Foreign investment inflow has reached its pre-crisis level.
On July 20, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Government Commission on Monitoring Foreign Investment, in Novo-Ogaryovo.
"According to preliminary estimates of the Bank of Russia, the Russian economy has received over $27 billion in foreign direct investment in the first six months of 2011," the prime minister said. "This is more than during the same period last year, but slightly less than before the crisis, during the first six months of 2007, when FDI totalled $29.6 billion. In the first half of 2010, FDI amounted to $19.4 billion. Our main task now is to maintain this positive trend, while focusing on the quality of long-term investment to ensure that it is accompanied by new technology and innovations, and the creation of modern enterprises and high-paying tech jobs."
The prime minister is confident that the country is capable of reaching $60-$70 billion a year in foreign direct investment (he emphasised this considerable sum), and of achieving a positive balance in general between capital inflow and outflow.
Putin believes that the overall market situation, Russia's economic recovery and measures taken by the government to improve the business climate inspire hope that this positive trend will continue.
Both Russian and foreign companies are resuming work on plans that were put on hold during the crisis, including the initiation of new investment projects. Putin said that at the previous meeting of this commission, the French company Alstom's request to acquire a large stake in Russia's Transmashholding was approved. Modern mechanical engineering clusters with a common technological cycle, from R&D to large-scale projects and batch production of rail cars and locomotives, will be set up at the Tver and Bryansk plants.
Another deal, which the prime minister described as "good and promising," was on the meeting's agenda. The deal concerns an alliance between the Russian gas producer, Novatek and the French petrochemical company, Total ("a reliable and long-standing partner," according to Putin). Total bought 12% of Novatek's shares, and its subsidiary plans to buy a 20.5% stake in Yamal LNG. The prime minister believes that this deal will create the necessary foundation for the joint implementation of a large-scale programme to develop deposits and produce liquefied natural gas on the Yamal Peninsula.
A modern LNG plant, a transport infrastructure and a new Arctic port, Sabetta, will be built in Yamal. The first LNG tankers are scheduled to be loaded at its terminals in 2018. Overall, investors and the government intend to allocate at least 1 trillion roubles towards the project, including the development of industrial and transport infrastructure and the manufacture of ice-class LNG tankers.
During a recent United Russia conference in Yekaterinburg, members discussed the importance and good prospects of this project for the Urals Federal District and Russia in general. The project will increase Russia's share in the global LNG market and will also help revive the Northern Sea Route, which is a strategically important goal for the country, the prime minister said.
Larisa Kaftan