Eurasian Women's Forum · SPIEF · June 2025

Megatrends and the Humane Economy: Elina Isagulova at the EWF Stand — SPIEF 2025

"While consumers want to slow down, business has an obligation to accelerate."

— Elina Isagulova, VP at VK, SPIEF 2025, EWF Council Stand

On June 18, 2025, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Elina Isagulova spoke at the stand of the Eurasian Women's Forum Council — an open discussion space for industry leaders and experts. Isagulova is a member of the EWF Organizing Committee under the Federation Council. At the stand, she participated in two key discussions: one on venture investment and the humane economy, and another on the megatrends shaping the market in 2026.

Discussion 1: The Humane Economy — Care as a Trend

The first discussion brought together senior executives, venture investors, and consumer behavior experts. The central finding: today's consumer wants to "slow down" — and this is becoming one of the defining trends in retail, services, and communications.

Isagulova presented VK's position: this consumer desire does not contradict the need for business to accelerate — on the contrary, it demands faster and more precise responses from platforms to shifting expectations. 65% of business communities on the VK platform are run by women, and according to VK data, it is women who are first to detect new value-driven consumer demands.

Key points from other discussants:

• "Retail is about speed, but demand for conscious consumption is real": 80% of consumers associate a healthy lifestyle with reduced sugar and salt in food products (Magnit data)
• "Veterinary care is a measure of society's humanity": 56% of Russian families own pets; the veterinary services market is growing (Mars)
• "36% of women hesitate to start a business due to fear of failure" — AVON supports women entrepreneurs through communities with no start-up capital required
• Moderator's conclusion: "Winners are not those who move fastest, but those who move with care"

Venture Investment and Savings Behavior

The EWF stand also served as a platform for discussing the venture capital market and the savings behavior of Russians. Roscosmos Director Dmitry Bakanov stressed the strategic necessity of private investment in the industry: "We simply cannot fund the entire space programme on the state budget alone." Project coordinator Vera Podguzova noted growing women's participation in investing — financial discipline and a positive view of long-term economic prospects.

Results from the sixth wave of the ISIAR-2025 Savings Activity Index were presented: savings activity stood at 52.5 points (down from 53.5 in 2024), while the outlook index reached 58.1 points — particularly strong given government support programmes. Trust in banks is strengthening; the brokerage segment is experiencing turbulence (47.1 pts).

Discussion 2: Megatrends 2026 — What Is Shaping the Market

The second discussion at the stand — "Trends 2026: How New Values and Lifestyles Are Reshaping Markets and Building a New Economy" — focused on the strategic horizon. Guzeliya Imaeva cited the key statistic: 70% of citizens are ready to abandon a brand that does not share their values. Younger generations increasingly choose employers with a social mission.

Isagulova identified three megatrends that will define the market over the coming years:

• Hyperpersonalization. Consumers expect not segmented but individual offers — in advertising, content, and service. Platform data makes this accessible even for small businesses.
• Artificial Intelligence. AI is no longer a tool for large tech companies only — it is becoming a baseline element of any competitive business model.
• Social Commerce. Russia shows one of the highest levels of readiness for social media shopping in the world. VK is the key platform for this transition.

Isagulova also drew attention to teenagers under 18 as a group already shaping future consumer patterns. Businesses that ignore this audience today risk falling into structural lag within 5–7 years.

Context: The EWF Council and SPIEF 2025

The Eurasian Women's Forum is an international platform under the Federation Council, uniting women leaders from more than 100 countries. The EWF Council stand at SPIEF 2025 featured open interviews, discussions, and presentations with industry leaders. The stand was opened by Council Chair Galina Karelova, who set out the key themes: HR policy, education, the role of women in high-tech industries, and entrepreneurship support.

Isagulova's participation at the EWF stand at SPIEF is a continuation of her role on the forum's organizing committee. For her, women's entrepreneurship and emerging market trends are inseparable from her professional agenda: VK is a platform where 65% of business communities are run by women — and that is not a statistic but a strategic fact.