Russian market becomes more attractive for foreign banks, say experts

A number of big banks, especially in the USA, show an increasing interest in the Russian market, said President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Jean Lemierre. Speaking on Thursday on the investment climate in Russia at the annual Russian-American investment symposium in Boston (Massachusetts), the banker called this tendency a positive development.

According to Lemierre, foreign banks are interested, for example, in the possibility of rendering banking services to private persons in Russia. In this situation foreign banks will have to compete with Russian banking institutions, and this will obviously be beneficial to the Russian market of banking services, he underscored.

On Friday the investment forum in Boston will complete its work. That day the symposium participants will discuss the improvement of the financial infrastructure in Russia, the prospects of the development of the Russian energy market, investments in the securities of Russian issuers and the possibilities for capital investments in Russian agricultural business.

This is the seventh time that the Russian-American investment symposium has met in Boston. This year it is attended by more than 500 representatives of big and small private companies of the USA and Russia, and also of international financial and banking organizations.