Business programme

The Northern Sea Route stands as the paramount transportation artery that connects the vast expanse of Russia's Arctic territories, serving as a vital link between the Northwest and the Far East regions of the country. In the face of mounting sanctions, disruption of existing logistical chains, and shifts in traditional markets, the Northern Sea Route presents a fresh window of opportunity to foster the development of these territories and forge robust partnerships with friendly countries. Additionally, its advancement will unlock new avenues for Russian companies to export their goods in the Asia-Pacific markets, while concurrently addressing a multitude of economic, demographic, social, and political challenges that confront the nation as a cohesive entity. What specific measures must the government implement to ensure the sustained viability of Arctic navigation for the years ahead? What strategic actions should be undertaken to guarantee the safety of navigation along the NSR? How can we alleviate congestion in the Eastern Polygon and along the Baikal-Amur Mainline? What mechanisms exist presently to enhance the efficiency of collaboration among shippers, shipowners, authorities, and infrastructure operators? Is there a collaborative alliance among authorities, shippers, and shipowners to accomplish the targeted cargo flow along the NSR? Is the realization of year-round navigation on the NSR in the near future a plausible endeavour?

Moderator
Sergey Brilev, President, The Global Energy Association

Sergey Brilev

President, The Global Energy Association

Russian TV presenter, writer and public figure. Deputy Director of the Rossiya TV channel for special informational projects, President of the Bering-Bellingshausen Institute for Both Americas (Montevideo), member of the Praesidium of the Foreign and Defence Policy Council (Moscow), the only Russian journalist to have interviewed both the last two Presidents of the Russian Federation and the USA: Putin and Medvedev, Bush and Obama.
Born 24 July 1972 in Havana (Cuba).
Graduated from MGIMO MID RF (1995, Moscow), the Montevideo Institute of Foreign Languages (1991, Uruguay), and finished BBC courses (1995, London).
Career:
1990–1993: Komsomolskaya Pravda. Trainee, scholarship holder, correspondent-intern in the department of science and education.
1993–1995: Moscow News. International department special correspondent. In parallel, Moscow correspondent of the Uruguay El Observador Económico and the Argentinian La Razón, as well as Russian State Duma Latin America expert.
Since 1995: Rossiya (RTR) TV channel, including:
1995–1996: Vesti special correspondent (including during the First Chechen War).
1996–2001: Bureau Chief in London.
First broadcast as presenter on 11 September 2001 (day of the terrorist acts in the USA).
2001–2003: presenter of evening Vesti.
2003–2007: presenter of Vesti Nedeli, Deputy Director, Directorate of information programmes.
Since 2008: presenter of the Vesti on Saturday programme, Deputy Director of Rossiya TV channel.
Author of a multitude of documentary films: Secret of Three Oceans, Constitutional Practice, Duma Thinking, Right to Right, Heavy Oil, Another Coal, The Caribbean Crisis. An Incomprehensible Story, Nazarbayev’s Line, etc.
Author of the books: Forgotten Allies in World War II (2012) and Fidel. Football. Falklands (2008).
One of the main spheres of his professional activity is interviewing heads of state. In particular, in Latin America: Chavez (Venezuela), Ortega (Nicaragua), Correa (Ecuador), Morales (Bolivia), Sanguinetti (Uruguay), Bachelet (Chile) and so on.
By order of the Russian President, awarded the Order of Friendship, the medals 300th Anniversary of St. Petersburg and 1000th Anniversary of Kazan (2005). Was the finalist and winner of the TEFI awards many times.
Speaks English and Spanish fluently.

Panellists
Sergey Anoprienko, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, DP World
Vladislav Kuztetsov, Acting Governor of Chukotka Autonomous Region
Igor Levitin, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation; Secretary, State Council of the Russian Federation
Alexey Likhachev, Director General, State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM
Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Council of Participants in Navigation on the NSR; Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sovcomflot
Alexey Chekunkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic
Andrey Chibis, Governor of Murmansk Region

Sergey Anoprienko

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem

Group Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, DP World

His Excellency Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World and Chairman of Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation, is one of Dubai's leading businessmen.
HE Bin Sulayem’s expertise and visionary leadership spearheaded the rapid expansion of Dubai’s infrastructure, including ports and free zones, contributing significantly to the stellar growth trajectory of the United Arab Emirates.
Highlights of his three-decade business career include:
• Leading marine terminal operator DP World’s expansion internationally, including the purchase of the P&O group for US$6.8 billion in March 2006, which propelled it to among the largest global port operators and trade enablers in the world with 77 marine and inland terminals in six continents.
• Overseeing the rapid development of Jafza (Jebel Ali Free Zone) into an unrivalled business park of more than 7300 companies
• Establishing and leading Nakheel, a real estate and tourism property development firm that has created many iconic Dubai projects including The Palm, the world’s largest man-made islands
• Establishing and leading Istithmar World, a major investment house focusing on private equity with a portfolio of investments in diverse sectors across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East including retail, financial services, industry, tourism and hospitality, and healthcare
• Pioneering the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a market for gold and precious metals, diamonds and coloured stones, energy and other commodities

Vladislav Kuztetsov

Acting Governor of Chukotka Autonomous Region

Igor Levitin

Aide to the President of the Russian Federation; Secretary, State Council of the Russian Federation

Born on February 21, 1952, in Tsebrikovo, Odessa Region, Ukraine.
1973 – graduated from the Railway Corps and Military Transport School, Leningrad (now St Petersburg).
1983 – graduated from the Military Logistics Support and Transport Academy with a degree in Railway Engineering.
1973–1976 – served on the Transdnestr Railway in the Odessa Military District.
1976–1980 – served in the South Army Group.
1983–1985 – Military Commandant of a railway section and Urgal station on the Baikal-Amur railway line (BAM).
1984 – took part in driving the Golden Spike, when eastern and western sections of the BAM were linked.
1985–1994 – Section Military Commandant, Head of a Military Transport Department and Deputy Head of Military Transport on the Moscow Railway.
1996–2004 – employed at SeverStalTrans.
1998 – Deputy CEO of SeverStalTrans; supervised the transport engineering sector, railway transport and seaport operations.
March 9, 2004 – appointed Transport and Communications Minister.
May 20, 2004 – appointed Transport Minister.
Since May 21, 2012 – Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation.
Since September 2, 2013 – Aide to the President of the Russian Federation.
Was a member of the Public Council of the Government Commission for the Railway Transport Reform.
Married, with a daughter.

Alexey Likhachev

Director General, State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM

Alexey Likhachev is Director General of ROSATOM. He assumed office in October 2016. Mr. Likhachev has since been responsible for overseeing the entire spectrum of the state corporation’s activities.
Before joining ROSATOM, Mr. Likhachev worked in the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, where he held a wide variety of leadership positions. He joined the ministry in 2007. He worked as an advisor to the Minister of Economic Development until 2008, in 2010 he was appointed Deputy Minister, and in February 2015 he was promoted to the position of First Deputy Minister of Economic Development.
Throughout his career, Mr. Likhachev held senior positions in other governmental bodies and public organizations as well. He was a member of the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliamentary body), serving as Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Economic Policy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (2000-2007). Previously, he worked as managing director of Social Industrial Insurance Company ‘Aval’ in Nizhniy Novgorod (1992-2000).
Mr. Likhachev graduated from Gorky State University and started his career as an engineer in the Gorky Research Institute of Instrumentation (1985-1987). In 1998 he graduated from the Economic Faculty of Nizhniy Novgorod State University with a Ph.D. in economics.

Sergey Frank

Chairman of the Council of Participants in Navigation on the NSR; Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sovcomflot

Mr Sergey Ottovich Frank was born on 13 August 1960 in Novosibirsk.
In 1983 Mr Frank graduated with honours from the Admiral G.I Nevelskoy Maritime State University in Vladivostok, specialising in ship navigation on sea routes. In 1995 he completed a law degree at the Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok. In 2007 he defended his PhD dissertation in technical sciences.
1984-1989 – Deputy director of the Admiral G.I Nevelskoy Maritime State University.
1989-1995 – Head of the external economic relations department, Deputy head of finance and economics, and deputy general director at the Far Eastern Shipping Company.
1995-1996 – Deputy director of the department for maritime transport at the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.
1996-1998 – Deputy, then First Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation.
1998-2004 – Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation.
Since October 2004 – President and Chief Executive Officer of PAO Sovcomflot.
Simultaneously from 2014 – Chairman of the Board of AO United Shipbuilding Corporation;
Member of the presidium at the Maritime Board under the Government of the Russian Federation ;
Member of the State Committee for issues of development of the Arctic;
Member of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; deputy head of the Union’s committee for transport and transport infrastructure;
Head of the Council at the Russian Chamber of Shipping.
Head of the supervisory board and The Honourable President of the Admiral G.I Nevelskoy Maritime State University;
Member of the supervisory board of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation.
Member of the supervisory board of the Russian Geographic Society.

Alexey Chekunkov

Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic

Alexey Chekunkov has been the head of the Far East Development Fund since October, 2014.In 2013-2014 Alexey managed his own investment company PAMIR Capital before appointment to the position of the Far East Development Fund Chief Executive Officer. In 2011-2013 he worked as a Director, Member of the Management Board and Investment Committee in the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). Mr. Chekunkov was responsible for investments in healthcare, energy saving, raw materials sector as well as for establishing of the Russian-Chinese Investment Fund with 2 billion dollars capital. In 2009-2011 Alexey managed his own investment company New Nations Capital (venture capital investments, investment banking). In 2006-2009 he worked in the position of Managing Director in the investment company United Gold Company (UGC), being a part of Alfa-Group consortium.In 2003-2006 he was Vice-President in Delta Private Equity, one of the leading private equity companies in Russia, managing over 500 million dollars capital. He participated in a number of landmark deals including sale of Delta Bank, of TV channels STS and TV-3, of the National Cable Networks holding, of the company Compulink. In 2002-2003 Mr. Chekunkov took part in consolidation of gold-mining assets in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) as the Projects Director in the Investment Group Alrosa. On November 10, 2020, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was appointed Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.

Andrey Chibis

Governor of Murmansk Region

Born 19 March 1979, in Cheboksary, Chuvash Republic.
1996–2001: studied Jurisprudence at the Moscow Consumer Cooperation University. 2001–2004: Lawyer (private law practice) 2004–2005: Advisor to the Governor of the Ryazan Region and later Head of the Expert Department at the Administration of the President of the Chuvash Republic.
2006–2007: Deputy Director of Construction Department, Head of Support Team for the national project Affordable Housing promoted by the Russian Ministry of Regional Development.
2007–2008: Head of the Directorate for Affordable Housing Market Development at the Federal Agency for Construction, Housing and Utilities. 2008–2011: Chairman of the Management Board, member of the Managing Committee, Director for Legal and Corporate Issues, RSS Plc.
From July 2009: Vice-President of the National Union of Water Utility. 2011–2012: Executive Director of the Socioeconomic and Political Research Institute Fund under the All-Russia People’s Front. Since October 2011: Executive Director of NP Development of Housing and Utilities. Since August 2012: member of the Advisory Panel under the Russian Government and Head of the Working Group for Development of Housing and Utilities under the Advisory Panel of the Russian Government. 6 December 2013: appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities, Russian Federation. 1 October 2014: appointed Chief State Housing Inspector of Russia. December 2015: elected Bureau Member of the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management.
21 March 2019: Acting Governor of Murmansk Region