Putin's relatives took over the SPIEF podium and pushed the billionaires aside
Members of Vladimir Putin’s family will have spoken or have already spoken at a total of 14 sessions of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which is nearly 1.5 times more than last year, when they appeared on 10 panels.
Now, certain female members of the Kremlin leader’s family appear at the main gathering of the Russian business elite more frequently than well-known billionaires.
The increase in the number of sessions featuring relatives of the Russian president is due to a sharp rise in appearances by Deputy Defense Minister and his cousin Anna Tsivilova.
While last year she participated in only one panel at the forum titled “The Rehabilitation Industry Must Be Creative,” this year she is taking part in five.
Her topics included “Cultural Code as the Foundation of Identity: Russian Experience and Prospects,” “Talent Pool for Priority Economic Sectors,” “AI People,” “Spiritual Values and Unity as the Foundation of Peaceful Life,” and “Current Technologies for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Veterans.”
One more session is scheduled for the head of the “Innopraktika” Foundation and Putin’s younger daughter, Katerina Tikhonova.
Last year she spoke once, and now she will speak twice: at the sessions “The Nation’s Engineering Code: Restore or Rewrite?” and “Technological Leadership in Pharmaceutical Innovation. How to Provide for Russian Patients and Remain Competitive in the International Market?”
Meanwhile, the president’s eldest daughter, Maria Vorontsova, a leading research fellow at the Medical Research and Educational Institute of Moscow State University, will speak only once at the SPIEF in 2026—on the panel “Career Guidance and Mentoring in Medicine.
Experience, Best Practices, the Future” (last year she made two appearances). Putin’s second cousin’s granddaughter, Elena Fisenko, Director of Medicine at Russian Railways, is scheduled to participate in two sessions, just as she did last year.
And his second cousin, Vera Podguzova, senior vice president of Promzvyazbank, will speak at four sessions.
Relatives of other high-ranking Russian officials have also increased their activity at the forum.
Alexander Vaino, director of the “Young Professionals” division at the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (and son of Anton Vaino, head of the Presidential Administration), is scheduled to speak at 10 sessions, although he participated in only four last year.
Roman Rotenberg—first vice president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and son of the president’s friend Boris Rotenberg—has also become more in demand. He will participate in two sessions, one of which (“Russia–Thailand”) has no connection to sports at all.
The number of appearances by Boris Piotrovsky, Vice Governor of St. Petersburg (and son of the Hermitage director), has increased from one to two.
In contrast, the presence of Sergei Shoigu’s daughter Ksenia, who heads “Mendeleev Valley,” has been significantly reduced—this year she will speak on only one panel instead of three.
The number of sessions featuring VK CEO Vladimir Kirienko, son of the first deputy head of the presidential administration, has also dropped from three to two.
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