Тема:Инвестиции (для перевода«под запись»)

America Top Foreign Investor

America once again has taken top notch as foreign investor in the Russian economy for the first quarter this year, the Russian Statistics Committee announced.

With a total investment of more than $3 billion since the collapse of Soviet Union, the United States has long been the largest foreign investor in Russia.

Belgium was ranked second, followed by Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Officials from both the Belgian and the Austrian embassies were surprised that they had been ranked ahead of Germany, which maintains a strong economic presence in the region.

"I think the reason that Austria has been placed ahead of Germany is because many international firms have their headquartersin Vienna. According to flawed Russian accounting methods, investments of those multinational companies are wrongly attributed to Austria," said Peter Reiner from the Commercial Section of the Austrian Embassy.

Reiner also said although the Austrians (whose total investment last year was approximately $8 million) have been active in the forestry and hotel industries, investment in Russia is minor in comparison with that in former Warsaw Pact countries.

"Austrian investment in the Czech Republic or Hungary is at least 20 times more than in Russia," said Reiner.

"Part of the reason is, of course, the greater geographical distance between the two countries. But I think that most Austrian companies have a 'wait and see' attitude towards Russia. It is still too early for serious investment."

A similar sentiment was echoed by spokesmen from both the German and Belgian embassies in Moscow.

According to ITAR-TASS, the oil and gas sector, forestry and food products industries are of greatest interest to foreign investors.

As Russia possesses more than 20 per cent of the world's forest areas, and demand for timber and cellulose-based products is increasing in Europe, it is not surprising that much of the foreign investment is concentrated in the forestry sector.

Some Austrian lumber companies like Preting Holz Industries have even set up processing plants in Russia to process the timber before export.

According to analysts, direct American investment in Russia is mainly limited to food and tobacco companies like McDonald's, PepsiCo and Philip Morris.

Unfortunately for Russia's emerging financial infrastructure, there has been little foreign investment in the financial services sector, barringa few exceptions.

"Commercial banks in emerging markets are rarely attractive," said a US investment banker, who wished to remain anonymous. "Most international investment banks are hesitant to enter into joint partnerships with Russian banks because of their limited market experience and increased risks."

Analysts said, though, that the economic crisis mightlead to a restructuring of Russia's banking system, which could pave the wayfor increased foreign investment.

V.Maheshwari ("Moscow Tribune")

Комментарии

top notch — верхняя графа; ranked (placed) ahead of — оказались впереди; flawed — зд. несовершенный; attributed to — приписываются; similar sentiment was echoed by — подобное мнение разделили; ср. emerging markets — зд. новые рынки (развивающиеся, формирующиеся); barring — зд. кроме; to pave the way = to give green light to.