Growing consumption of agricultural and food products in the countries of East Asia is creating significant export potential for the Russian Far East’s domestic agroindustrial sector. Effective monetization of this potential will require a competitive and modern supply chain within both the Russian Far East and target sales markets. Consumer preferences are dictating new requirements for modern logistics, with the sector being forced to improve its efficiency, reliability, and use of technology. What is the significance of agricultural logistics for the development of the regional agricultural industry? Which modern logistics solutions could be used to increase the competitiveness of domestic agricultural products? What current logistical limitations in the region are holding back agroindustrial exports? What Russian and foreign infrastructure projects aimed at increasing exports are being implemented today? What are some of the new approaches to organizing supply chain infrastructure for key markets? Will agricultural logistics hubs become a mechanism for supporting exports from small-scale farms? How are modern technologies enabling the optimization of logistics for agroindustrial and food products?

Moderator:
Vitaly Sheremet — Partner, Head of Agricultural Practice, KPMG in Russia and CIS

Panellists:
Maxim Basov — Chief Executive Officer, Rusagro Group of Companies
Alexey Vanchugov — Chairman of the Executive Board, RosAgroMarket
Andrey Gollandtsev — Chairman of the Board of Directors, Slavtrans-Service
Sergey Levin — Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation
Andrey Slepnev — Chief Executive Officer, Russian Export Center
Nikolay Tsekhomskiy — First Deputy Chairman – Member of the Management Board, Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)

Front row participant:
Nikolay Kharitonov — Chairman of the Committee for Regional Policy and Issues of the North and Far East, State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

Cargo turnover at sea ports in the Russian Far East doubled between 2009 and 2017, demonstrating rapid growth in comparison with figures for the Russian Federation as a whole. In 2017, cargo turnover at ports in the Far Eastern basin reached 191.7 million tonnes, a large part of which was accounted for by coal transshipments. It is anticipated that the growth of coal exports to Asia-Pacific countries and active development of new coal deposits in the Russian Far East will continue. New projects involving the transshipment of grain cargoes and seafood products, as well as the development of the Russian Far East’s transit potential, will also help to increase cargo turnover. What areas of development are the highest priorities for increasing competitiveness in the sector? How can zoning of Far Eastern ports according to cargo type be implemented, in a way that also addresses the environmental problems that may arise from the transshipment of coal? What factors in the investment attractiveness of the sector are the most important for potential investors and what changes are needed in order to address these? Which modern financial instruments should be used to implement infrastructure projects in the Russian Far East?

Moderator:
Igor Prutov — Partner, Transaction Advisory Services, EY

Panellists:
Denis Ilatovskiy — Director for Logistics, JSC SUEK
Vitaly Korolev — Deputy Head, Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS Russia)
Irina Olkhovskaya — First Deputy General Director - Commercial Director, Port Management Company
Di Wu — Vice President, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd.
Yuriy Tsvetkov — Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation; Head, Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport
Vadim Shvetsov — Chief Executive Officer, Member of the Board of Directors, SOLLERS

Front row participants:
Iwata Akira — General Manager of Moscow Branch, Nomura Research Institute Ltd.
Vladimir Grigoryev — General Director, AO Nakhodka Trade Seaport
Ruslan Kondratov — President, Founder, Aqua-Resources Group of Companies
Eiji Okada — Chief Operating Officer, Marubeni Corporation
Alexander Romanov — Executive Director, Infrastructure Financing Division, VTB Capital
Yury Tyamushkin — General Director, VaninoTransUgol JSC

The majority of deposits currently being developed in the Russian Far East were opened and surveyed during the Soviet period. In order to support the future development of the mining sector in the Far East, it is essential to develop its resource potential to the fullest extent possible, and this should be facilitated by geological exploration. Expenditure on geological survey work on the Russian Far East’s mineral resource base rose by 30% in 2017, reaching around RUB 6 billion, with plans to allocate around RUB 16 billion over the 2017–2020 period. Although these sums are significant, in order to fully exploit the resource potential of the region and make the most practical use of its subsoil, the Russian Far East requires a more active investment strategy for the development of geological exploration. What concrete steps must be taken to increase survey coverage of the Russian Far East? What global best practices (from Canada, Australia, the USA, and South Africa) can be used in projects in the Far East? What model for junior companies is the most attractive for the Russian market?

Moderator:
Boris Yatsenko — Partner, Head of the Metals and Mining Group in Russia and the CIS, EY

Panellists:
Thomas E. Bowens — President, Chief Executive Officer, Member of the Board of Directors, IG Copper
Mikhail Damrin — Chief Executive Officer, Kopy Goldfields AB
Evgeny Kiselev — Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation - Head of the Federal Agency for Mineral Resources
Vitaliy Nesis — Group Chief Executive Officer, Polymetal
Sergey Pavlovsky — Member of the Board of Directors, Gold of Kamchatka
Claude Schimper — Regional Vice President for Russia, Kinross Gold Corporation

Front row participants:
Alexander Basanskiy — Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kolyma Industrial and Commercial Concern Arbat
Kirill Molodtsov — Aide to the Chief of Staff, Presidential Executive Office

For a long time, the contribution of marine aquaculture to the economy of the Russian Far East has been limited. In recent years, the industry’s output has been increasing, but further development is being hindered by administrative barriers. In 2017, the first major foreign investors got involved in the sector. Together with their investments, they have also brought in modern technology. A special Internet service for allocating marine plots for aquaculture was launched in 2018, with the help of which more than 100,000 hectares will be turned into new plantations by 2020. What other measures are needed to increase the volume of aquaculture products, both on the Russian market, and for export? How can the issues involved in making land available for the creation of on-shore bases for marine farms be solved? What needs to be done in order to simplify the procedure for carrying out environmental impact assessments for aquaculture? What can be done to improve the effectiveness of measures to safeguard private property used for mariculture production?

Moderator:
Eduard Klimov — Chairman of the Board of Directors, Fishnews

Panellists:
Roman Vityazev — Vice Chairman, Far Eastern Union of Mariculture Enterprises
Yulia Kosareva — Director of the Department of Private Investment Attraction, Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East
Alexander Tashintsev — Director, Investment Department, Far East and Baikal Region Development Fund
Guonan Qiu — President, Wenlian Aquaculture Co. Ltd.
Ilya Shestakov — Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation; Head, Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo)

Front row participants:
Viktor Baranov — Deputy General Director, OOO RTS-Tender
Maxim Bergelya — Chairman, Association of Fishing Enterprises of the Ulchsky and Komsoolsky Districts of the Khabarovsk Territory
Valentin Bogoslavskiy — Director General, Scientific and Production Company Aquaculture Nereida
Alexander Efremov — Managing Director, Dobroflot Group of Companies
Andrey Kovalenko — Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights in Sakhalin Region
Maria Malkova — Executive Director, Zhilsotservis
Sergey Maslennikov — Head of the Laboratory of Ecology of Shelf Communities, Institute of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Andrey Strelets — General Director, Dalsnab
Sergey Emdin — Chief Executive Officer, Tele2

Today, the contribution of petrochemicals to Russian GDP is lagging significantly behind the equivalent figures for leading global economies (at less than 2% in comparison with 6% in the USA and 9% in China). At a time of growing foreign competition, choosing the right direction for the development of petrochemical projects within a Far Eastern cluster is gaining particular relevance. It is no coincidence that the Russian Far East is the location for a number of major petrochemical projects which are either at the implementation stage or in preparation, including the Amur Gas Processing Plant, Amur Gas Chemical Complex, Skovorodino Methanol Production Plant, Nakhodka Fertilizer Plant, and many others, representing a total value of more than USD 20 billion. Its close proximity to the premium Asia-Pacific market provides the cluster with an additional advantage. The extraction of helium and other valuable components from Yakutsk and Irkutsk gas at Far Eastern facilities has the potential to facilitate the development both of related markets, and of high-tech industrial sectors. How well supplied is the region with raw materials and the capacity to process them? What factors should form the basis of value creation chains within the sector? What high-value-added products will be in demand on domestic and external markets? Is there a need to develop the small-scale LNG market in the region? Will changes to the tax regime affect the cost of raw materials for the petrochemicals sector? Petrochemicals from naphtha, ethane, or LPGs – what should be developed and why?

Moderator:
Anton Poriadine — Partner, CIS Strategy Leader, EY

Panellists:
Grigory Vygon — Managing Director, VYGON Consulting
Sergey Komyshan — Member of the Management Board, Executive Director, SIBUR
Boris Krasnovskiy — General Director, ESN LLC
Nikolay Sabitov — General Director, Nakhodka Fertilizer Plant
Pavel Sorokin — Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation

Front row participants:
Viktor Evtukhov — State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation
Yuriy Korsun — Deputy Chairman, Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)

The Far Eastern region is one of the key centres of the Russian mining industry. The volumes of metals extracted and produced there are growing year-on-year: in 2017, for instance, gold extraction in the Russian Far East grew by more than 7% to 140 tonnes, which represents more than half of all gold extracted nationally, while the rise in tin production exceeded 60%. As extraction volumes in the Russian Far East are increasing, so too are its infrastructure capabilities. These factors are naturally serving to increase the investment attractiveness of the region, both for domestic and for international investors. At the present time, a number of foreign companies are not only engaged in extracting and processing minerals, but are also involved in investment activity as they participate in merger and acquisition deals in the mining sector. Countries represented by these foreign investors include Canada, the USA, China, and India. As before, however, a number of restrictions remain in the domestic mining sector, hindering its development. What legislative reforms are necessary to increase the investment attractiveness of the Russian Far East’s mining sector? What are the current infrastructure limitations in the Russian Far East, and what can be done to resolve these at both the federal and regional levels?

Moderator:
Boris Yatsenko — Partner, Head of the Metals and Mining Group in Russia and the CIS, EY

Panellists:
Denis Alexandrov — Chief Executive Office, Russdragmet (Highland Gold Mining Ltd.)
Pavel Grachev — Chief Executive Officer, Polyus
Shiv Vikram Khemka — Vice Chairman, SUN Group
Artem Levin — General Director, Management Company Kolmar
Denis Khramov — First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation

Front row participants:
Victor Kudinov — General Director, Regional Mining Company
Yury Makarov — General Director, Petropavlovsk – Iron Ore LLC
Claude Schimper — Regional Vice President for Russia, Kinross Gold Corporation

In 2018, the first investment projects were selected as part of a programme to fill investment quotas in the fishing industry. As a result, the successful companies have now been assigned quotas in exchange for the obligatory construction of ten seafood processing plants with a total processing capacity of more than 300,000 tonnes annually, as well as nine fishing vessels to be built at Russian shipyards. These projects alone will serve to double processing production, but the result will remain far from the global figures achieved by the major fishing countries. The sector possesses significant potential for growth. A new 15-year period for assigning quota shares will begin in 2019, and now is the time to determine the key rules and discuss possible changes required to develop the sector. What changes can the sector anticipate in this new period? What structural changes must be incorporated in order to stimulate active investment by sector participants and reduce investment risks? How can 100% implementation of ‘investment quota’ projects be ensured, and what are the associated risks? What modern products should be produced and how can these be promoted?

Moderator:
Yermolai Solzhenitsyn — Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company

Panellists:
Alexey Baygushin — Chairman of the Board of Directors, JSC Managing Company Dalnevostochny Rybak; Co-owner, Interrybflot
Sergey Darkin — President, Pacific Investment Group (TIGR) PJSC
Alexander Efremov — Managing Director, Dobroflot Group of Companies
German Zverev — President, All-Russian Association of Fisheries Enterprises, Entrepreneurs and Exporters
Fedor Kirsanov — General Director, Russian Fishery Company LLC
Dmitry Pashov — President, Moneron
Ilya Shestakov — Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation; Head, Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo)

Front row participants:
Sergey Gudkov — Executive Director, Fish Union
Aleksandr Duplyakov — President, Crab Catchers Association of the Far East
Mikhail Trushin — Deputy General Director for Economics, Pella JSC

The Russian Far East possesses 30% of the Asia-Pacific region’s timber reserves. At present, however, only 18% of its 90 million cubic metres of timber are utilized annually. The forestry industry, which retains a focus on raw material exports, accounts for no more than 1.5% of the regional economy. In 2018, the rules for doing business in the Far Eastern forestry sector changed. Firstly, new conditions have entered into force that make forestry resources available to major investors planning to develop regional processing capacity. Secondly, export duties for companies exporting only round timber will gradually be increased from 25% to 80%. What needs to be done to increase the amount of investment per hectare of forest? Is it advisable to vary state support measures for forestry projects depending upon the degree of raw timber processing involved, and how exactly should this be done? How can the economic performance of projects to develop forests and build forest infrastructure be improved?

Moderator:
Igor Prutov — Partner, Transaction Advisory Services, EY

Panellists:
Viktor Evtukhov — State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation
Mikhail Klinov — Deputy Head, Federal Agency for Forestry
Konstantin Lashkevich — President, RFP Holding
Suresh Prabhu — Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of India
Aleksandr Pudovkin — General Director, Asia Forest

Front row participants:
Dmitry Olkhovik — Head, Forestry Management at the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
Vera Podguzova — Managing Director of External Communications, Russian Export Center
Aleksey Ryzhikov — Managing Director, Saint-Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange
Vladimir Solodov — Acting Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Ma Zhizhong — Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jolanpu; Member of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Hao

In Russia’s agroindustrial sector, exports are becoming key: as agricultural import substitution programmes reach their targets, the future growth of agricultural production will be secured by satisfying demand in export markets. The most promising markets for global agricultural production are those of the Asia-Pacific region, and of East Asia in particular, the geographical neighbour of a Russian Far East which is rapidly developing its own agricultural production and output of food products. Which agricultural goods in demand in major Asia-Pacific countries is the Russian Far East ready to offer? Which markets have the most potential for the increase of Russian agricultural exports? How can sanitary restrictions be lifted and the regionalization of the Russian Federation’s constituent entities be achieved? What conditions must be created in the Russian Far East for Asia-Pacific investors and trading partners? How can effective sales channels be established in the Asia-Pacific region for products from the Russian Far East?

Moderator:
Albert Davleev — President, Agrifood Strategies

Panellists:
Maxim Basov — Chief Executive Officer, Rusagro Group of Companies
Gerard Birkbeck — General Director, Kangrow
Sun Guoqiang — President, Zhongding Dairy Farming Co., Ltd
Mikhail Krylov — General Director, MKR Capital
Sergey Levin — Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation
Andrey Slepnev — Chief Executive Officer, Russian Export Center
Aleksandr Shenderyuk-Zhidkov — Director, Sodruzhestvo

Front row participants:
Ivan Sleptsov — Rector, Yakut State Agricultural Academy FSBEI HE
Nikolay Kharitonov — Chairman of the Committee for Regional Policy and Issues of the North and Far East, State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

International tourism is one of the most promising paths to economic development in the Russian Far East. In 2017, more than 720,000 foreign tourists visited the region. Measures have been undertaken in recent years to create the most attractive conditions possible for tourism in the area, including the development of transport infrastructure in the form of airports in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Khabarovsk, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the creation of new points of attraction and tourist resorts in Khabarovsk Territory, Sakhalin Region, and Kamchatka Territory, and the provision of additional support measures for investors, including an electronic visa for citizens from 18 countries and a 0% corporate tax rate for tourism businesses in the Far East during their first five years of operation, as well as additional programmes aimed at expanding tourism infrastructure and promoting the Russian Far East as a tourist destination. What additional conditions are needed to increase the investment attractiveness of the sector? What tourism and supporting infrastructure facilities need to be built to service inbound tourist flows? What do tourists need in the Russian Far East? How can tourist interest in the region be increased, and how can tourists be encouraged to visit more frequently and for longer? What role should the state play in the development of infrastructure to facilitate this?

Moderator:
Maxim Safonov — Director, Green Capital Alliance; Professor, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)

Panellists:
Olga Golodets — Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
Taras Demura — General Director, TUI Russia
Vladimir Dmitriev — Vice President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation
Julia Morozova — General Director, Creative Production
Wang Ping — Chairman, China Chamber of Tourism
Vera Podguzova — Managing Director of External Communications, Russian Export Center
Oleg Safonov — Head, Russian Federal Agency for Tourism
Stylianos Tsifetakis — Executive Officer, G1 Entertainment LLC
Sergey Tyrtsev — First Deputy Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East
Irina Yarovaya — Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

Front row participants:
Ilya Bogachev — Regional Director on Innovative Projects, Amadeus Russia
Olga Gurevich — Chairwoman, Public Expert Council on the Development of Tourism in the Primorsky Territory
Alexey Kalachev — Chief Executive Officer, Russia Convention Bureau
Timothy Patrick McNally — Chairman of the Board of Directors, NagaCorp Ltd
Ruslan Novikov — General Director, Argumenty I Facty Ltd
Olga Tkacheva — Deputy General Director for Strategic Development and Marketing, Flotiliya