Investment Climate. Investor Sentiment before and after the Elections. Sergey Pyatenko, Director General of FBK’s Economic and Law School at the Online Finam.ru Conference

On November 25, 2011 Sergey Pyatenko, Director General of FBK’s Economic and Law School was at an online conference by Finam.ru called Investment Climate. Investor Sentiment before and after the Elections, where he among other things said that over the last 10 – 15 years the investment climate in Russia had been improving, though slowly. “It is very likely – he said – that during the next 10 – 15 years it will reach the same level as the one in Greece and Portugal at the moment. Our investment climate is nowadays competing with that of Brazil and Mexico”. The fact that a party representing interests of budget providers not state funded organizations would be elected to the Duma – according to Mr. Pyatenko – could serve as the signal for investment inflow. “In other words the party, which would really represent interests of right-wing partisans. To realize this purpose, first, there should be a need for such right-wing sentiments, and second, parties expressing these sentiments should emerge”, said the economist. Mr. Pyatenko pointed out that the government would stop imposing on businesses its rip off taxes, only if businessmen learned how to clearly define and strictly protect their interests.

Answering the question whether Russia’s joining WTO would reduce the dependence of its economy on oil prices, the economist said that “the best-case scenario is that this process will take approximately ten years”.