Yavlinsky: The most interesting moments were my talks with the President of Iran Mohammad Khatami - his speech and a subsequent meeting with him. Tean a meeting with the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf, the issues on the prospects for Iraq – this probably was the most extraordinary. And speaking about Russia, the concert of Mariinsky Theatre headed by Gergiev was an exceptionally significant event. This orchestra greatly impressed all Davos.

Question: What topics were the most important for this Forum in Davos?

Yavlinsky: Proliferation and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the fate of Iraq, negotiations between Pakistan and India, the spread of nuclear technologies from Pakistan to Iran, issues of global security. Certainly there were a number of economic topics related to the prospects of the dollar’s depreciation, as well as the topic of competitiveness of Europe in view of the dollar’s depreciation to the Euro and the topic of free trade.

Question: Did representatives at Davos express interest to the current developments in Russia?

Yavlinsky: If we speak about Tchaikovsky, Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre, then the interest is huge here. Politics and economy do not represent any interest.

Question: Has interest in Russia dropped compared to the previous Forums?

Yavlinsky: I wish you saw how the full hall of the participants of the Davos Forum (and this makes 1,500 people) applauded standing to their feet to the Mariinsky Theatre: you would conclude that interest in Russia has not fallen. In general everything good in Russia – Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, Gergiev, the Mariinsky Theatre, its orchestra – was the focus of attention. And as nothing significant, interesting or challenging in century old Russian tradition has taken place in Russia, there is no interest. Is it real news that there is no real democracy in Russia? It has never existed in Russia. And it is no news that Russian economy lives on high prices for our energy resources

Question: Do the forthcoming presidential elections in Russia provoke no interest at all?

Yavlinsky: They were not even discussed. Who can be interested that Russia has no elections, that the president is virtually appointed? Is there anything new about Russia here? When there was political competition in Russia, this provoked interest, and when it was assumed that profound economic changes would be implemented in Russia, this obviously provoked interest with the world economic community. But interest vanished when all this was stopped.

Question: Judging by such moods at the Forum, can we expect investments in the Russian economy?

Yavlinsky: There will be investments. People invest in China, and they did invest in the USSR. It is another thing that in Russia everything has been happening under the government’s control, as has the flow of investments. So everything should be coordinated with the authorities, but in any case this is risky.

Question: How do you access the success of the Russian delegation in Davos? Kudrin’s assessment, for example, was not very optimistic…

Yavlinsky: He successfully referred to the high growth rates of the Russian economy. He successfully delivered State Statistical Committee data. But he was asked virtually no questions to him. He was asked what would happen to Khodorkovsky, and he answered that the court would decide.

Gazeta, January 26, 2004