Command for a new legal framework for business investment to RussiaVladimir Putin gave, as Moscow is preparing for the time of sanctions, according to a Bloomberg report.
But one Kremlin official said, “no one is still knocking on the door”, underlining the hesitant nature of companies’ approaches to restore their investments in Russia, as US President Donald Trump is pushing for an agreement to end.
Bloomberg spoke with lawyers, bankers and risk analysts with experience in Russia, who have been approached by customers in recent weeks for advice on what could happen later in a radically different market, where the balance between danger and reward has already shifted by 2022.
“Everybody is doing the right thing,” said Chris Weafer, who runs Macro Advisory, a firm of Russia -focused strategic advisors, which has dozens of questions. “Everyone is looking at their choices. From Trump’s swearing -in onwards, Russia is much more carefully controlled. “
Weafer added, however, that most companies would not consider a return until a permanent peace deal. “No one wants to come back soon and then have to leave again,” he said.
The Russian president has commissioned the task of drawing up the framework in the government in March and the Treasury has already drawn up some preliminary proposals. They include the requirement of foreign companies to identify part of production and agree to the transfer of technology to improve production, according to two government officials who refused to be named, as information is not public. Russian companies will also have a say in the return of companies to some market sectors, they added.
While “all new investors who want to come to Russia will receive the most favorable working conditions”, the companies that have abandoned the country and now want to regain their former businesses cheaply will have to pay full market prices for assets, Anatoli Aksakov said in the Commissioner.
Putin made it clear in March that the Western companies who left after the start of the invasion and sold Russian subsidiaries to what he described as “a tribute” should not be allowed to recover the assets cheap. His comments have created new doubts about the value of the repurchase rhetoric signed by some companies on their departure.