Victor Khristenko, the acting prime minister of Russia, said that the Russian government must remove all of the negative issues that hinder the development of small businesses at a cabinet meeting yesterday.
Foreign inflows soared 50 per cent from 2002 as Russia attracted a record US$29.7 billion last year. Foreign loans led the gains with US$22.2 billion of the total US$29.7 billion according to the State Statistics Committee.
Direct investment in fixed assets at Russian companies increased 12% in 2003 to US$72 billion, according to early figures.
Vneshtorgbank will lend small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) US$1bn this year, said bank head Andrey Kostin after a meeting with President Vladimir Putin last week.
The Central Bank of Russia has lowered the refinancing rate to 14% from 16% as of 15 January.
The Central Bank last changed the refinancing rate on 21 June 21 2003, lowering it to 16% from 18%.
Source: Interfax
The European Commission, the supreme executive body of the European Union, is ready to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Russia, Richard Wright, the chief of the European Commission's mission in Russia, said at the opening of t
To date, it appears that no securitisation of receivables, whether domestic or cross-border, has been accomplished in Russia due to a series of unresolved legal issues.
South Korea's Eximbank is to open a line of credit for Vneshtorgbank (VTB) and Gazprombank to extend short-term trade finance worth US$30 million and $20 million, respectively.
Russia is expecting a net private capital flight of more than US$13 billion in the last six months of this year, in contrast to the first half of the year, when a net US$4.6-billion flowed into the country, the first sustained private capital infl
"Russia is stepping into a new age of uncertainty", said Pekka Sutela, a Finnish expert on the economies of Eastern Europe at the Bank of Finland.
