A Forum on the Creative Economy was held as part of the Russian Business Week

As part of the Russian Business Week, a Forum on the Creative Economy was held on February 20, where the strengths and weaknesses of the creative economy sector and the challenges facing it were discussed.

Alexey Goreslavsky, Chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs' Commission on the Media Industry and Entrepreneurship in the Information Sphere, Director General of the Internet Development Institute, took part in the discussion. Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; Andrey Krichevsky, Chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs' Committee on Creative Industries and Intellectual Property; Igor Namakonov, Director General of the Federation of Creative Industries; Igor Namakonov, Vice President for Industry Relations and Special Maria Zaikina, Director of the Public Relations Department at RVB, Evgeny Etin, and others worked on Ozon projects.

Alexey Goreslavsky, Chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs' Commission on the Media Industry and Entrepreneurship in the information sphere, shared the results of a survey of participants in the Russian Business Week. More than 90% of respondents expect the creative economy to grow, and almost half believe that it will be faster than the industry average. 70% of the respondents associate the development of this sector with foreign markets, of which 30% are already working abroad and another 40% plan to exit within three years.

Goreslavsky noted the large number of representatives of the platform economy in the audience and stressed that the emphasis on it today was not accidental.

"According to the NAFI analytical center, digital platforms now account for an average of 27% of creative industries' revenue," he said.

Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, believes that the further growth of the creative industries is directly related to institutional changes and financial instruments.

"It is important for us that investments can also be made in intangible assets and used to develop creative industries. And, of course, to protect the rights. These are patent rights and trademarks," Shokhin emphasized.

He also called the model of civil law relations preferable for employment in the creative industry, rather than classical employment contracts.

"The creative economy employs about 500-600 thousand people. And they do not work for one employer, but create a kind of product service in the interests of many employers. There should be civil law relations (GPH) in this area, not labor relations," said the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

Shokhin added that in 2030, the share of the self—employed in the creative industry may grow significantly - up to 80%, therefore, it is necessary to improve the model of functioning of the self-employed in the labor market.

Andrey Krichevsky, Chairman of the Committee on Creative Industries and Intellectual Property of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said the serious damage caused by EU sanctions to the Russian creative industry.

"In the current conditions, our exports of creative products have suffered greatly. Before the sanctions, we could seriously talk about the development of exports in some creative industries (software products, animation, some movies, music) that entered foreign markets. The sanctions targeted specific software products and companies with Russian origin. IT companies that had previously entered foreign markets were also affected," Krichevsky said.

Evgeny Etin, Director of the Public Relations Department at RVB, noted that "platformization" for creative industries is exactly what our country needs, if we think from a business point of view.

"Russia has always been a creative country, and in this, in my opinion, we are very different from any of our neighbors. And this is a reason for pride and export, which, due to platformization, due to our features, we could use correctly. Because creativity in our current realities is an opportunity to maximize profits," he said.

At the end of the forum, it was noted that Russian business today is not only oil, gas and metals. The creative economy sector, from art to innovation— is shaping a new, modern image of Russia in the world, revealing its power and potential to its own citizens. Inventions, industrial and digital design, cinema, music, and IT developments are becoming a significant part of the real economy, and most importantly, growth drivers, sharing their intellectual property with the industrial and raw materials sector.

During the discussions, a number of initiatives and proposals aimed at developing the industry were announced, and specific requests to the government were formulated. In the near future, they will be considered by the working group on creative economy at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

A working group has been formed on the basis of three specialized commissions of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs to systematically work on the development of the industry and coordinate business efforts. She brought together the expert potential of the Commission on the Media Industry and Entrepreneurship in the Information Sphere and Advertising, the Commission on Exhibition and Congress Activities, as well as the Committee on Intellectual Property and Creative Industries of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs to develop comprehensive solutions in the interests of the creative economy.