Business programme

Amid the economic uncertainty and geopolitical risks shrinking opportunities for investment into foreign instruments, investments in gold become a reliable defensive asset and a key means for both individuals and institutional investors to save funds. Recently, the state has been purposefully steering a course toward attracting new private and institutional investors into the gold market. Even so, there still exist certain regulatory, organizational and psychological barriers that make it somewhat uncomfortable for the client to navigate the gold investment market. New instruments such as online sale of gold coins, digital financial assets (DFA), utility digital rights (UDR) backed by real gold make it possible to expand the potential investor pool and shape new investment markets. What are the capabilities of and opportunities for investors in gold in Russia? How can investment in precious metals be made comprehensible for regular investors? The prospects for digital tokens based on real physical gold: the DFA or the UDR? How is the gold mining industry developing amid the sanctions? What are the prospects for expanding use of gold as an investment tool when implementing proposed initiatives and in using digital tools? What additional initiatives could attract new clients to the gold investment market?

Moderator
Dmitry Butrin, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Head of Economic Policy Section, Kommersant Publishing House

Dmitry Butrin

Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Head of Economic Policy Section, Kommersant Publishing House

Panellists
Denis Iordanidi, General Director, Lighthouse; Member of the Coordinating Council for Digitalization, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs
Sergei Kushuba, Chairman, Union of Gold Producers of Russia (online)
Migel Markaryants, Senior Vice President, Head of Retail Business Unit, Promsvyazbank
Georgy Smirnov, General Director, Nordgold Management
Arkady Trachuk, General Director, Goznak
Ekaterina Frolovicheva, General Director, Atomyze
Ivan Chebeskov, Director of the Department of Financial Policy, Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation

Denis Iordanidi

General Director, Lighthouse; Member of the Coordinating Council for Digitalization, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs

Sergei Kushuba

Chairman, Union of Gold Producers of Russia

Migel Markaryants

Senior Vice President, Head of Retail Business Unit, Promsvyazbank

Georgy Smirnov

General Director, Nordgold Management

Arkady Trachuk

General Director, Goznak

A graduate of the Leningrad Institute of Aviation Instrumentation (1989) and the Voznesensky Leningrad Institute of Economics & Finance (1991).

Doctor of Economic Sciences. Dean of the Faculty "Higher School of Management", Professor of the Department of Management and Innovations of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. Member of the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation.
1995 to 1997, Deputy Chairman, then Chairman of the Management Board of Petroenergobank.
1997 to 1999, Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance, Lenenergo.
1999 to 2001, Head of the Department for Power Supply Operations, RAO UES.
In July 2001, he was appointed Deputy General Director of the Goznak.
Since October 2002, General Director of the Goznak.
In 2006, after the reorganization of the Association into the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Goznak, he was appointed General Director of the Enterprise.
On 19 May 2016, after the Enterprise’s transformation into a joint-stock company, he was appointed General Director of Goznak.

Ekaterina Frolovicheva

General Director, Atomyze

Professional experience
Since 2021, he has been managing Atomyze, an information system operator and digital financial asset exchange operator.
From 2013 to 2020, Ekaterina held the positions of Managing Director of the Center for Technological Innovation and Director of the Digital Innovation Department at Sberbank, Gazprombank and VTB. She was responsible for the adaptation of new technologies, models and tools, as well as integration with partners based on API, automation of internal processes and modernization of systems, using the best IT practices. She has worked both with established technology companies and with startups.
Previously (from 2006 to 2013), Ekaterina headed the software development center for enterprise systems and computing complexes at IBM.
From 2002 to 2004, she held various positions in oilfield service companies.
Education
Higher. Graduated from the Faculty of Management of the University of Manchester (UK) and the University of Warwick Business School (UK).

Ivan Chebeskov

Director of the Department of Financial Policy, Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation

Front row participant
Mikhail Yurchuk, Deputy CEO for Government Relations, Atlas Mining (JSC “UMMC”)

Mikhail Yurchuk

Deputy CEO for Government Relations, Atlas Mining (JSC “UMMC”)