UPDATE: No decision on Putin’s attendance at Davos forum yet–Peskov

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MOSCOW, Dec 26 (PRIME) -- President Vladimir Putin has received an invitation to participate in the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, but made no decision on his attendance yet, president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

“Indeed, we are welcoming the change of climate in Davos. And indeed there is a long-standing and regularly reissued invitation for Putin to visit Davos, but a decision has not been made yet. The president has a tight schedule due to the global situation, as you can see. The issue is under consideration,” he said.

In November, the Financial Times reported that Russian tycoons Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg as well as VTB Bank’s CEO Andrei Kostin were barred from participating in the forum. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said then that Russia would not go to the forum if the restrictions are not lifted.

Earlier in December, a government source said that the official delegation of the Russian government would attend the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2019, since the restrictions imposed on the Russian businessmen by the event’s organizers were canceled.

Vekselberg and Kostin told reporters on Wednesday that they plan to visit the forum.

CEO of metals giant Norilsk Nickel Vladimir Potanin said he does not plan to attend.

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