Photo Credit: http://gorod48.ru

It set a new record in the size of contracts, totaling 9.6 trillion roubles this year, a 27-fold increase over 2012.

Rosneft’s 25-year oil supplies deal with China, worth 8.2 trillion roubles, accounted for the bulk of the portfolio.

Russia’s oil behemoth was the prima ballerina of the forum, securing an extensive list of contracts. Here are the major ones:

1. Offshore development – agreements with ExxonMobil, Statoil, Eni S.p.A.
2. Agreement on strategic cooperation with GE.
3. Agreement on tight oil production with ExxonMobil.

NOVATEK, a rival of Gazprom, signed a cooperation agreement with China National Oil Corporation (CNOC) on the Yamal LNG project. CNOC will get a 20 percent stake in the project in exchange for a commitment to buy at least 3 million tonnes of LNG a year. That will be made possible as soon as Russia eases restraints on gas exports as currently only Gazprom has the right to supply natural gas to foreign countries.

The forum members were enthusiastic, if cautious, about the ambitious plans announced by the Kremlin, including additional steps to curb inflation and promising some $14 billion to build roads and railways. The government wants to further improve the investment climate by introducing an amnesty for entrepreneurs convicted for minor economic crimes.

Foreign experts have been wary of the upbeat mood of the Russian officials, amid reports of the 18.3 percent drop on the dollar-denominated RTS index in 2013 and the recent self-exile of a leading liberal economist, Sergey Guriev, who fled Russia out of fear of reprisals for his support for opposition leader Alexey Navalny and for taking part in an assessment report on the second criminal case of Yukos.