On June 4, 2026, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum hosted a private screening of the film "Holy Entrepreneurs" by the Spas TV channel. The film tells about entrepreneurs of the pre—revolutionary era, as well as about our contemporaries who build their businesses with the belief that life is a dead end just for the sake of getting rich.
The large-scale premiere of the film at the SPIEF took place on June 6. The choice of a place for the presentation of a new TV project, the Journalist's House on Nevsky, was symbolic. The old mansion in the spirit of late classicism was bought by the St. Petersburg Merchant Society in 1864. In the 1900s, the headquarters of the Commercial and Industrial Union (the Party of St. Petersburg Entrepreneurs) was located in the building of the St. Petersburg Merchant Council.
The film is dedicated to little-known pages of the history of the Russian Church and Russian entrepreneurship.  The authors turn to the fates of St. Seraphim of Vyritsky, St. Spyridon of Trimifunt, the Righteous Basil of Pavlov Posad, the New Martyrs John Letnikov, Vasily Ivanov, Jacob Blatov, Sergius Tikhomirov and other people who combined work, faithfulness and service to people.
The film touches on relevant issues for a modern entrepreneur: whether entrepreneurial activity can be a service, how material prosperity and spiritual life are related, and what kind of Christian leader should be. Along with the history of the holy entrepreneurs, viewers also get acquainted with modern representatives of Russian business, for whom the example of the saints serves as a moral guideline.
A special place in the film is occupied by the story of creating the image of the saints of entrepreneurship. Boris Korchevnikov, General Director of the First Public Orthodox Television Channel Spas, says:
"A little over a year ago, I saw an icon that I had never seen before: businessmen were on it. I froze in front of this icon because I realized: Russian Russians are the salt of the Russian land, and this is Russian pre—revolutionary entrepreneurship, the stratum that created Russia in many ways. They built schools, almshouses, hospitals, orphanages, universities, theaters, conservatories, temples and monasteries, supported artists, writers, scientists, paid for expeditions, created incredible museums like the Tretyakov or Bakhrushins, built cities, owned world brands, developed the economy, culture, and the very spirit of the country.… And for this, it was this class of enterprising and Fatherland—loving people who suffered almost as much as the priesthood suffered - the Bolsheviks were especially intolerant of entrepreneurs and destroyed them at the root precisely as part of that Russia they hated.
There are already 33 saints in this cathedral, and these saints can not only help and be the heavenly patrons of today's Russian entrepreneurs, hear those who turn to them, but also give an incredible example of doing business. This film is also about Russia, which has been lied to us. And it's great that its premiere took place at the headquarters of the current Russian business, at the SPIEF."
The television premiere of the film will take place soon on the TV channel "Spas".