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Children of Russian elites address the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s low-profile daughters will speak at the event.
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Russia’s most important economic event attracted high-profile international visitors before the war in Ukraine.
It’s that time of year for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum – or the ‘Russian Davos’, as it is sometimes called.
For years, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s premier business and investment event has attracted the world’s elite, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
This list of prominent world leaders has shrunk considerably since Russia invaded Ukraine, prompting sweeping sanctions against Putin’s regime.
This year, the biggest names attending the event include Bolivian President Luis Arce and the Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
But children from the top of the Kremlin are now also present at the four-day economic forum, which started on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The Nepo babies present include: Maria Vorontsova And Katerina TikhonovaPutin’s inconspicuous daughters.
Vorontsova, a 39-year-old endocrinologist, represents the Russian Society for the Promotion of Science. She will speak about bioeconomy.
Meanwhile, 37-year-old Tikhonova, head of the Innopraktika center – backed by state-owned companies – will join a panel to talk about the military-industrial complex.
Other Kremlin descendants addressing the event include Ksenia Shoigu, the daughter of the former Defense Minister, who is set to moderate a panel, and Kremlin Chief of Staff Anton Vaino’s son Alexander, according to Bloomberg.
The second generation of Putin’s inner circle appears to be taking things a step further as their elders grow older; the Russian leader himself is 71 years old. However, the reason could also have to do with self-preservation in the authoritarian system, Ekaterina Schulmann, a political scientist at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told Bloomberg.
“To be safe, you have to be in the system,” Schulmann told the media.
In the past, the Russian elite could send their children abroad to cover their risks if something went wrong at home. But sanctions and increased surveillance have now made this option much more difficult.
“Now that this opportunity has become more difficult, the way to protect themselves is to appoint their children as bosses,” Schulmann told Bloomberg.
Putin will address the economic forum on Friday.
Read the original article on Business Insider
