Annual Investments In Russia Reach $40-50Bn

The annual volume of investments in Russia reaches $40-50 billion, and the GDP volume is $50-270 billion, Sergei Bayev, head of the Investment Policy Department of the Economic Development Ministry, said at the opening of the conference 'Strategic Investments in the Northwestern Federal District of Russia' in St. Petersburg today. According to him, the volume of investments necessary to restore the infrastructure can reach $100-300 billion. At the same time he pointed out that the volume of pure investments this year is expected to reach at least $40 billion, whereas the corresponding figure for 2000 was $52 billion. In Bayev's view, it is expedient to more actively use balances at commercial banks' correspondent accounts, which are estimated at $10-12 billion, which make up 33% of the GDP. At the same time, the percentage of investments in the GDP structure is 16-17%, which is far less than the corresponding figure for the world. The representative of the Economic Development Ministry also remarked that privileges granted by the Russian state are often inefficient, but their estimated annual volume is $10-15 billion.