The Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia have drafted an initiative offering guarantees to new foreign investors irrespective of their country of origin, a Deputy Minister of Finance Alexey Moiseyev said. They will primarily have guarantees of unimpeded cross-border transfer of funds.
Next year, we may well expect an influx of foreign investors, Deputy Minister of Finance Alexey Moiseyev said during a State Duma hearing on the draft guidelines for the development of the Russian financial market in 2025 and in the 2026-2027 period.
“We believe that foreign investors can come back to the Russian market. This is not at all out of the realm of possibility. We all know, as does anyone who has worked in the financial market long enough, that despite everything, pecuniary interest is stronger than anything else,” he commented.
In particular, Moiseyev pointed out the high profitability of doing business in the Russian market today.
“Once we have an enabling regulatory environment where players are confident that they will be able to safely transfer their money out the moment they want to, I am sure that we will have an influx of foreign investment,” he said.
There are two reasons that scenario is completely feasible despite the current restrictions: first, Russia is cooperating with friendly countries, and second, companies that have left the market due to sanctions are returning, says Alexander Shneiderman, head of sales and client support at Alfa-Forex.
Companies from China, India, Türkiye and the UAE are showing a growing interest in the Russian market, the expert emphasizes. Friendly political relations and joint economic initiatives such as using national currencies in trade and special tax regimes create favorable conditions for such investors. In recent time, there has been an increase in investment in energy, logistics and infrastructure, where foreign capital can take advantage of the market opportunities that have opened up here since Western companies left.
“Some of the companies that left in 2022 due to sanctions pressure are now considering re-entering the Russian market through workarounds, such as operating through subsidiaries in third countries. They are reluctant to abandon the lucrative Russian market, especially the mining and manufacturing industries,” Alexander Shneiderman explains.