I Spoke at the 2026 St. Petersburg International Legal Forum

Continuing my battle with childhood trauma (just kidding) and my fear of public speaking, I agreed to speak at the 14th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, in a session titled 'Legal Support for Innovation in Agriculture: Digital Transformation of the Agricultural Sector.' I filled in for a colleague who was scheduled to attend in person but couldn't travel because of family circumstances (and congratulations to him once again on those circumstances ;).

I had almost no time to prepare—literally an hour and a half. There was no way to get to St. Petersburg by 10 a.m., so we decided I'd deliver a prerecorded video address, which we somehow managed to record almost in one take. Watching it later, I noticed how often I said 'uh' and 'um.' Something to work on. Still, I think I managed to deliver a lively speech and throw in plenty of regulatory references.

As I prepared, I reviewed my colleague's talking points and slides and realized he was going to discuss ideas we had already explored in the report 'Study of the Development Paths for the Data Economy in Agriculture,' which I helped prepare for Russia's Ministry of Agriculture. That made preparation a lot easier.

My main point was that government-held agricultural data should be treated not only as a tool for oversight and reporting, but also as a resource for managing the sector in its own right. The government already knows how to collect large volumes of data through federal government information systems. But collecting data doesn't automatically mean it can be effectively reused.

I also emphasized that the data question isn't just a technical matter involving platforms, APIs, formats, and integrations. It's a regulatory challenge as well. We need to know in advance who is accountable for the data, what access rules apply, which datasets can be made public, which must be de-identified, which can be provided on request, and which must remain restricted.

The main message of my talk was directed above all to colleagues at the Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Economic Development: let's manage government data as a resource in its own right. Agriculture already has extensive industry datasets, practical use cases, and an understanding of the risks. We're ready to help because this isn't just an engineering problem. Without a clear regulatory framework, the 'data economy' will remain an attractive label rather than a useful tool.

The session took place on June 26, 2026, as part of the forum's business program. It was moderated by Professor Elena Abanina, head of the Department of Land and Environmental Law at Saratov State Law Academy.

The other participants (or perhaps I should say I participated alongside them) included my colleague Sergey Antoshkin, acting director of the Department of Digitalization and Technological Development at Russia's Ministry of Agriculture; Vladimir Pushkarev, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management; Elina Sidorenko, director general of the nonprofit Platform for Handling Entrepreneurs' Appeals and a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights; Natalia Voronina, professor of environmental and natural resources law at Kutafin Moscow State Law University; and Vachakan Katsalov, head of corporate relations at Cherkizovo Group.

In the end, it wasn't just a formal legal discussion. We talked about how the law can make digital transformation in agriculture more meaningful: instead of proliferating disconnected systems and collecting data 'just in case,' we need clear rules for using, protecting, and reusing it.