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Read original →SPIEF 2026: Day One Highlights
First day takeaways from SPIEF 2026: the satellite city 'Yuzhny' announced with 500+ billion rubles in investment, industrial infrastructure in the regions, logistics expansion by Ozon and Wildberries, digitalization, and SME support.
An AI City Near St. Petersburg
One of the largest projects announced on the first day of SPIEF 2026 was the satellite city 'Yuzhny' in the Pushkinsky District of St. Petersburg. It represents a new model for metropolitan development, where residential construction is integrated from the outset with scientific, technological, and digital infrastructure.
Sber will invest around 192 billion rubles in the city, with total investments exceeding 500 billion rubles. Designed for approximately 135,000 residents, it will include not only residential quarters but also a full-scale technological and educational cluster.
The centerpiece will be the 86-hectare 'ITMO Highpark,' which will house laboratories, data centers, and business incubators for IT products, robotics, and emerging technologies. The model envisions linking university, research, and business in a single space with an emphasis on commercializing innovations.
A separate digital urban infrastructure management system has been announced. AI technologies will be applied to regulate traffic flows, energy systems, and utilities, enabling a shift from isolated 'smart services' to a unified real-time data-driven city management model.
Industrial Infrastructure and Regional Industrial Clusters
A significant block of agreements focused on developing industrial infrastructure, creating ready-to-use production and logistics sites. In St. Petersburg, several agreements were signed to establish industrial facilities worth around 27 billion rubles. These involve preparing sites for new production facilities, developing utility networks and transport infrastructure, which accelerates project launches and reduces business costs. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, industrial sites remain one of the key tools for attracting investment into industry and expanding the manufacturing sector.
In Yakutia, plans call for creating an industrial park in the Neryungrinsky District with participation from the Kompenz concern. The region accounts for over 90% of Russian diamond production and is one of the largest centers for coal and gold mining. The new park will focus not only on production but also on service infrastructure for the mining sector—equipment repair and logistics support for enterprises in Southern Yakutia.
Regional Digitalization
MegaFon, together with the government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), launched a pilot voice robot in the Yakut language for government institutions. The solution is aimed at automating citizen inquiries and expanding access to digital services in a region with a population of over 1 million, where a significant portion of communication occurs in the national language, making service localization a factor in accessibility to government services.