The world is on the verge of the largest market bubble since the 19th century, and the financial sector of Western countries will benefit from the crisis, stated Igor Sechin, Executive Secretary of the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation for Strategic Development of the Fuel and Energy Sector and Environmental Security, at the Energy Panel of the XXIX St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. 

During his presentation with the report "The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning: What’s left at the Bottom of Pandora's Box?", he noted that the technology sector is attracting massive investments. According to McKinsey estimates, total capital expenditures in the data processing sector could reach eight trillion dollars by 2030. This year alone, the four largest technology companies will direct about 700 billion towards the development of computing capacity.

"Today, artificial intelligence-related companies are actually consuming a significant portion of investment resources, to the detriment of the rest of the economy," said Igor Sechin. The share of capital expenditures of the American technology sector in total investments has already reached a record 35%, while 15 years ago it was measured in a few percent.

In the American stock market over the past ten years, the share of the ten largest technology companies has tripled, exceeding 44%, noted Sechin. Given the expected IPOs of such giants as SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.), OpenAI, and Anthropic, with a combined valuation of several trillion dollars, this figure will approach 50%.

"Clearly, the world is on the brink of the largest financial market bubble in history since the US railroad boom of the 19th century," emphasized Igor Sechin. The main beneficiary of the impending crisis, in his opinion, is the financial sector of Western countries, which only yesterday was actively promoting a completely different - "green" - agenda.

"Today, the same companies — Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street — manage trillions of dollars invested, at inflated valuations, in the high-tech sector and the military-industrial complex. The circle has closed. Recently, Blackrock CEO Larry Fink proposed using pension fund and insurance company savings to buy shares in tech giants, which would attract colossal additional resources to the sector. I'm not sure anyone will ask American retirees for permission," summarized Sechin.

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Rosneft Oil Company
June 6, 2026