OREANDA-NEWS. On 10 June 2008 was announced, that senior business executives believe that the overall situation in Russia will improve over the years to come, with a positive impact on FDI. Political stability in Russia is in place for the foreseeable future, and the current system of power will be effective. In addition, Russia is seen as the most promising market among the BRIC countries, with a return on investment rated as higher than in other developing economies. These are some of the key findings of a survey released today at the 12th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.

This annual survey, Foreign direct investment in Russia, was commissioned by the Foreign Investment Advisory Council (FIAC), and its results were released to the press today. They will also be discussed at a roundtable at the forum on June 8. FIAC has published such surveys since 2005, helping to identify the major achievements and shortcomings in the international business community’s perception of Russia as an investment destination.

“We conduct this survey of foreign investors in Russia each year, and the results indicate that our country has become an integral part of the world economy,” said Alexander Ivlev, coordinator of FIAC’s foreign members and a partner at Ernst & Young. “Investors see that you can do business in Russia and succeed.”

“This is the fourth annual FIAC survey, conducted against the background of an increasingly confident and assertive Russia. While a majority of countries are suffering (or about to suffer) from the global credit crunch, Russia is doing better than most” said Thierry Malleret, Managing Partner of Rainbow Insight, the company who conducted the survey.

Some findings of the survey:

The aggregate value of investments of some of the respondents amounted to around US\\\\$80 billion.

Russia has an impressive track record in terms of macro-stability

Interviews revealed that by mid-April 2008, 50 Russian overseas acquisitions had been declared, valued at an aggregate of US\\\\$13 billion.

Respondents were most concerned by administrative barriers in conducting their investment projects in Russia. Other major concerns included insufficiently transparent legislation and insufficient anti-corruption activity.

In general, senior business executives believe that the overall situation in Russia will improve over the years to come, with a positive impact on FDI.

Some considerable doubts remain about the rule of law in Russia. No consensus emerged among participants with respect to its future development.

Participants outlined several steps the Russian government should take to improve the investment climate: improving the independence of the judicial system, transparency in lawmaking, and further anti-corruption measures.