For the first time the started World Economic Forum in Davos will be held online

Its participants plan to discuss the transformation of industries, technology development, global cooperation and climate change, including taking into account the situation with the coronavirus.

On the one hand, the online mode excludes face-to-face meetings, which are so important for establishing new ones and strengthening trust in old contacts. On the other hand, it allows attracting more participants, many of whom would not have gone to Switzerland itself.

At one of its first sessions, in particular, the head of the Russian VTB Bank Andrey Kostin will speak. Also in the forum, Russia will be represented on January 26 by the head of RDIF Kirill Dmitriev in a discussion on increasing resilience in the world after COVID-19 and on January 28 - by the head of Sberbank German Gref at a session on artificial intelligence, 1prime.ru notes.

Finally, for the first time since 2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to speak at the forum, his press secretary Dmitry Peskov has already announced this, but the exact date of the Russian leader's speech is still unknown.

Other heads of the world's leading countries are expected to participate in the online format: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister - Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.