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- Vladivostok is a delicate matter: contracts worth 6.3 trillion can be signed at the WEF-2026
Vladivostok is a delicate matter: contracts worth 6.3 trillion can be signed at the WEF-2026
The Far East continues to attract investment: the key topics of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in 2026 will be technology, international cooperation and the quality of people's lives. This year, deals worth 6-6.3 trillion rubles may be concluded at the event, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. This will be an absolute record: in 2025, the volume of signed agreements amounted to about 6 trillion. At the same time, the growth compared to last year will be small. Among the reasons, experts cite a high key rate, sanctions restrictions and an increase in the cost of contracts. What is the importance of the WEF and what deals can be concluded — in the material of Izvestia.
Eastern Economic Forum – 2026: main topics
The main theme of the XI Eastern Economic Forum (WEF) is "The Far East — development for the benefit of people." The program includes more than 70 sessions divided into five thematic tracks: "Living and working in the Far East", "Mechanisms for attracting private investment", "The Far East is the pole of international cooperation", "Technologies of the present and future", "Logistics and infrastructure for economic growth". The WEF will be held from 1 to 4 September.
The main topic of the forum emphasizes that the event will discuss not only economic issues, but also a human-centered model of regional development, said Elena Egorova, Director of GR Communications at Sbermarketing. According to her, investments, infrastructure projects and industrial agreements will be considered not as an end in themselves, but as tools for solving specific social tasks — saving the population, creating jobs, increasing the availability of services and the quality of the urban environment.
The WEF will also raise the issue of artificial intelligence management: technology is developing faster than its regulatory mechanisms are being formed, the expert noted. She recalled that the Internet took 15 years to reach a billion users, whereas AI reached this figure in just two years.
The WEF also traditionally pays special attention to the development of the Far East. This is the main platform for the presentation and "packaging" of macroregion investment projects in front of the federal center, investors and other subjects of the country, explained Ekaterina Movsesyan, CEO of KROS. Facility launches are regularly announced here, master plans are approved, and major agreements are concluded.
In addition, she continued, the international role of the WEF has become increasingly important in recent years, as a platform for the development of Russia's economic ties with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and the country's international positioning. Delegations from Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, China, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan are expected to participate this year. Earlier it was also reported that 35 countries will present projects in the field of sustainable development.
The central event of the WEF will be the plenary session on September 3. President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, Prime Minister of Mongolia Nyam-Osoryn Uchral, Vice President of Myanmar Nyo So and Deputy Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Ding Xuexiang will take part in it together with Russian Leader Vladimir Putin.
Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation and executive secretary of the forum's organizing committee, previously announced important statements by Vladimir Putin at the meeting.
What deals are expected at the WEF-2026
Experts interviewed by Izvestia expect that this year the WEF will sign contracts for an all-time record amount. In 2025, it amounted to just over 6 trillion rubles, and this year it may reach 6.3 trillion.
According to presidential adviser Anton Kobyakov, the amount may be even higher — 6.5 trillion. Agreements in the fields of energy, logistics, industrial production and science are expected to be signed on the sidelines of the forum.
Nevertheless, the growth rate is likely to slow down compared to 2025. This may be due to macroeconomic uncertainty, postponement of deadlines for major projects, as well as a change in the structure of transactions in favor of memoranda and roadmaps rather than final investment contracts, Ekaterina Movsesian believes. In addition, investment activity will be affected by staff shortages, logistical difficulties and rising inflation — all of which make financing Far Eastern projects expensive, explained Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Global.
If the actual volume of agreements turns out to be lower than the stated target, this may be due, among other things, to the high cost of borrowing against the background of an increased key interest rate and continuing geopolitical uncertainty. Because of this, some of the partners from the Asia-Pacific region (APR) are more cautious about long-term commitments, says Andrey Glushkin, managing partner of the Main Division and member of the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya. He added that the key areas of deals this year will be the extractive industry, infrastructure and logistics projects, as well as technology.
If it turns out to sign contracts worth 6.0–6.3 trillion, then, from an economic point of view, it will still be a very significant amount, explained economist Olga Gogaladze.
However, tourism and the service economy may become a clear growth area in terms of the number of agreements, says Yulia Maksutova, president of the Association of Russian-Arab Cooperation in the Field of Tourism and Investment. The share of agreements in the field of hospitality, the creation of resorts and the development of the urban environment may increase by 20-25 percentage points compared to last year. Such projects can play a significant role in shaping the new image of the Far East, she explained.
What is the importance of the WEF and what agreements have been concluded in the past years
This year, the WEF will raise issues such as the implementation of raw materials and infrastructure projects to create sustainable jobs and incomes for residents of the Far Eastern Federal District (Far Eastern Federal District), ensuring technological sovereignty and the simultaneous development of international supply chains, emphasized Ekaterina Movsesian from KROS.
The WEF is one of the tools for fulfilling the president's instructions to attract 12 trillion rubles of investment in the region's economy by 2030. As previously stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev, half of this volume has already been secured, and the planned pace has been exceeded by 11%. In general, thanks to the state support measures discussed at the forum, almost 7 trillion rubles of investments have already been attracted to the Far East and the Arctic and 197,000 jobs have been created.
Among the largest agreements of the WEF-2025 are the pre—design study of the construction of the Moka hydroelectric complex in Buryatia for 1.1 trillion, the construction of a mining and processing plant in the Tuguro-Chumikansky district of the Khabarovsk Territory for 650 billion, the development of the Aldan industrial cluster in the southern part of Yakutia for 535 billion and the creation of the Azure Resort tourist cluster in Shamora Bay (Vladivostok) for 100 billion.
These projects show the structure of transactions typical for the forum: first of all, we are talking about long-term investments in energy, mining, infrastructure and tourism, and not about one-time commercial contracts, Andrei Glushkin from Delovaya Rossiya pointed out.
Moreover, large-scale agreements, as a rule, provide not only for the volume of investments, but also for commitments on the timing of their execution, job creation and infrastructure development, emphasized Elena Egorova from Sbermarketing. Therefore, the WEF is important not only as a platform for signing agreements, but also as a tool for translating national priorities into specific investment decisions.
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