According to the Izvestia newspaper, Russia’s presence in Davos went almost unnoticed, except for a concert given by the orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater. Guests from Moscow failed to give clear answers to many of the questions that worry the international community: about the situation with big business in Russia, the role of the new parliament and democratic freedoms. In the opinion of the delegates themselves, the “Russian evenings” in Davos are exhausted. The Russian delegation to the World Economic Forum was headed by Russian Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin. It also included Andrey Illarionov, Economic Adviser to the Russian President, Railways Minister Leonid Reyman, and Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council.

The forum inherited the tradition of “Russian dinners” from the times when Russian problems were regarded as something new, mysterious and tempting, and guests from Moscow were seen as aliens from another planet. However, interest in Russia has declined over the past few years.

According to government officials, this is a sign of economic and political stability in Russia. At the 2004 forum, Russia was discussed together with China, Brazil and India – the countries that can become leaders in terms of GDP growth by 2050. “They don’t hold meetings ‘What’s next for Brazil?’ or, say, Japanese evenings,” said a participant of the World Economic Forum who asked not to be named. He came to the conclusion that the genre of “Russian evenings” was exhausted. In his opinion, it damages the image of Russia and its ruling elite.

“I felt ashamed,” the source said. “The members of the forum come to the dinner in order to ask the questions that worry them. They pay money for that and have the right to expect a comprehensible answer. But there were no clear answers, not to a single question,” he stressed. According to the Russian delegates, at bilateral meetings and behind the scenes they were asked about what would happen to YUKOS, who would become Prime Minister, what was happening to the freedom of speech, whether the victory of the United Russia party meant the shift to a single-party system and how the authorities saw the process of democratic reforms under the circumstances.