Seventeen agreements to a total of $14.6  billion  were  signed at the 12th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on  Friday, Saturday  and Sunday, Russian Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said, RIA Novosti reports.

Agreements signed at the 11th St. Petersburg Forum were valued at a total of  $13.5  billion.  But  with  the ruble having risen against the dollar since  then,  they had practically the same value as those of the 12th Forum, the minister said.

The forum saw the signing of $3.5 billion worth of contracts with developers to build an industrial park and residential blocks in St. Petersburg.
 
Under  another  agreement, a rail line is to be laid between Kyzyl, capital  of the Russian republic of Tyva, and Kuragino in the republic's Elegest coal field, she said.