SPIEF 2026: 6.6 trillion rubles of transactions and the U.S. delegation for the first time in 10 years
The SPIEF was held in St. Petersburg from 3 to 6 June. In terms of scale, this is comparable to last year (1,084 agreements versus 1,084 in 2025), and in amount — slightly higher (6,642 versus 6.48 trillion). But the main dimension of the 2026 forum is not ruble figures.
"1,084 agreements totaling 6.642 trillion rubles were signed at the forum," Presidential adviser Anton Kobyakov said at a final press conference on June 6.
The US delegation is a sign, not an accident
For the first time in 10 years, American businessmen appeared at the SPIEF as an official delegation. The last time was before 2014. The return of American business to St. Petersburg is one of the signals of cautious normalization: Trump is haggling with Iran, talking about possible deals with Russia, and his team is looking at economic pragmatics.
First of all, this is a signal for Russian business: Western capital is looking for entry points, albeit cautiously.
What is signed on foreign economic activity and logistics
The SPIEF traditionally focuses on agreements that have been prepared for months and for which a platform at the top level is needed. Among the relevant areas for foreign economic activity are agreements on transport corridors with Saudi Arabia, agreements within the framework of the EAEU–ASEAN dialogues, and a number of bilateral trade agreements with Indonesia, Cuba, and Kyrgyzstan.
Separately, it is recorded that the discussion of tax cooperation between the tax authorities of the BRICS countries has a direct impact on the document flow of foreign economic activity in the horizon of 2027.
Putin: $1 trillion inside BRICS
The forum's key statement for international trade participants: "The trade turnover of the BRICS countries has exceeded $1 trillion." In 2018, when Putin spoke about BRICS at the SPIEF, the figure was $125 billion. The 8-fold growth in 8 years is not just statistics, it is an infrastructure of calculations, logistics and cooperation, which was built by specific companies and specific solutions.
Saudi Arabia as a new vector
The guest country of SPIEF 2026 is Saudi Arabia, the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Russia. The delegation was headed by the Minister of Energy. Against the background of the Hormuz crisis and the normalization of the truce, this is a direct signal: Moscow and Riyadh are agreeing on energy cooperation under new conditions. For foreign economic activity companies, Saudi Arabia is on the agenda as a promising sales market and transit partner.
