Political tantrums, crises, hysteria. It’s all grist to the mill for Sergei Kolushev, the affable chairman of Eventica, the conference and events company that runs the Russian Economic Forum, now in its tenth year.

Yet someone, somewhere, has taken offence. It’s unlikely to be the fault of Mr Kolushev whose extraordinary diplomatic skills have turned an event that began as an offshoot for a trade fair but has rapidly grown into a must-attend event for anyone, from politics or business, with an interest in Russia.

In the early years, it was a place for nervous Europeans to make contact with Russian businessmen. Tycoons, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky would turn up and engage audiences with his personal critique of the Kremlin. Deals might be done and it was a useful, innocent and offshore location for like-minded and influential Russians to do personal, financial or political business.

Journalists discovered that Mr Kolushev was an invaluable fixer. Eventica organised annual press trips, that always seemed to coincide with yet another extraordinary political crisis. He had a contacts book like one of those famous Russian dolls, something ever more interesting as you looked further inside.

What has gone wrong? Not unlike its bigger and uglier brother, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Russian forum may have become a victim of its success. In the early years it attracted movers, shakers and thinkers. Latterly, it has been a platform for establishment figures, using the London venue to grandstand. In 2004, Alexei Kudrin, the Russian finance minister, attended and the following year, Mikhail Kasyanov, the former prime minister and Andrei Illarionov, a former adviser to President Putin opened the cupboards of the Kremlin for a London audience. Last year, Gazprom’s Alexander Medvedev used the occasion to cross swords with Alan Johnson, then secretary of state for Trade and Industry, over the Russian firm’s flirtation with the idea of a bid for Centrica.

Yet, the Forum, like the one at Davos has become less exciting, more of a media event than a place for people with ideas. Mr Kolushev has played a delicate game, providing a home from home for Russia’s troublesome tycoons and its grumpy power brokers. It needs to continue.

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