Simeon Djankov, the Rector of New Economic School (NES), questioned the probability of implementing large–scale sanctions against Russia. First, according to Djankov, the West understands that it will be extremely difficult to implement effective sanctions against Russia. In recent years, sanctions against such countries as Cuba, Iran and Iraq very rarely met their expectations; Russia, in comparison, is much more integrated to the world economy. Second, Russia is an important export market for Western manufacturers; therefore, the lobbyists from the leading companies will direct their efforts at prevention of large-scale sanctions.

In his speech, the Rector of NES indicated that there are structural issues within the Russian economy. One of the main issues is demographics. The work force in Russia is lacking young employees, and every year one million people leave the labor market. An indirect effect of this trend is a high unemployment rate. Djankov believes that in order to keep the economic growth at least at its minimum level, the country has to stimulate the growth of capital investments, which will help to compensate for the low workforce.  

Nitin Mehta, CFA, the Managing director of CFA Institute for Europe, Middle East and Africa, informed the event attendees of the global forecasts based on the opinion poll of CFA certificates holders around the world. The majority of experts think that in 2014 the world economy will continue to grow. The main positive factor, according to the respondents, is the improvement in the sovereign debt sector. By a significant margin, shares were named the kind of investment that will give the best results in 2014, followed by raw materials and precious metals. According to the majority of respondents, the best investment markets at the moment are the USA and China.