Third Regional Economic Forum “The Best for Russia” took place on November 14-16 in Krasnodar. Representatives of executive authorities, the business community, and public opinion leaders discussed current issues of regional economic development in two thematic sessions: “Evolution of regions. We create comfort for people” and "Business for the regions. How to build an economy of happiness".

The first session was devoted to the implementation of national projects and the role of business in creating conditions for high living standards and sustainable development of regions. During the second session, attention was focused on how to attract investment in small regions of the Russian Federation, which are traditionally not considered as an outpost for doing business and developing new markets.

As part of the Forum, the winners of the “Regional Development. The best for Russia” Program were awarded in 24 categories: from IT and digital technologies to projects in the field of socially sustainable development, from retail to telecommunications technologies.. AZIMUT Hotels was recognized as a laureate in the Tourism and Leisure category and named the Best Hotel Chain in Russia.

The annual award is presented to companies for best practices and regional development projects. In 2023, more than 100 applications were submitted for participation in the competition, companies presented about 140 projects aimed at developing regional territories. The selection criteria were consistency and activity, scale and efficiency of companies, and the significance of the presented business cases.

The experts of the Program are the executive director of the Russian Geographical Society Artem Manukyan, member of the board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Alexander Borisov, member of the Expert Council under the Committee of the State Duma on Industry Alexander Podkovyrov, officials of regional executive authorities, and the scientific community.