Vnesheconombank Chairman V.A. Dmitriev’s Interview to the TV Channel Russia 24

TV Channel Russia 24,
INTERVIEW
22.04.2013, 16:37

HOST: Vladimir Alexandrovich, good afternoon.

Vladimir DMITRIEV, Vnesheconombank Chairman: Good afternoon.

HOST: We are seeing each other in Washington in the course of the G20 meeting. Russia is a chairman of the G20 and one of its main tasks is to fund investments. I know that now VEB is opening its subdivision in Hong-Kong to raise Asian investments to fund Russian projects. Could you tell about your Asian subsidiary’s functions, are there any preliminary agreements, projects, key lines of activity?

Vladimir DMITRIEV: In fact, Vnesheconombank’s Supervisory Board made a decision to open a financial and investment company in Hong-Kong. This Vnesheconombank’s company is designed to both raise investments and safeguard Russian companies’ interests on the Hon-Kong stock exchange, provide consulting services, help Russian companies to tap international financial markets and raise foreign investments for Russia. This is one of its main missions.  We also have other priorities related to a growing trade turnover between Russia and China and using Hong-Kong as a sort of bridge for raising investments for Russia. But this is not the only institution designed to raise investments as part of Vnesheconombank. And we talked about it with our colleagues from national development finance institutions as well as with the leadership of such international development finance institutions as the World Bank, international finance corporations, the European Investment Bank and others. They of course want investments for Russia to be channeled through institutions controlled by the state and they regard these institutions as an instrument for guaranteeing and sharing risks with them and securing success of their investment transactions in Russia. I would also like to highlight the Russian Direct Investment Fund’s successful activity as an institution included in Vnesheconombank Group and responsible for raising investments. My high opinion about this Fund is shared by our county’s leadership.

HOST: What projects were implemented successfully?

Vladimir Dmitriev: The Fund’s financial resources in the amount of 500 million dollars made it possible to raise foreign investments worth 2 billion dollars. Sectors that are most attractive for foreign investors are those associated with our country’s dynamically developing middle class. Here I mean our financial sector, the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, public health services, medical industry, pharmaceutical industry, timber processing industry and a number of other sectors which are attractive for foreign investors who wouldn’t invest in Russia in the absence of a reliable mechanism represented by the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The Fund’s objective is to identify projects that could be of interest for foreign investors.

I’d like also to mention regional funds and corporations established specially for raising investments, for example the Kaluga Development Corporation. Just seven years ago the suburbs of Kaluga were nothing more than marshy lands no one wanted. Nowadays a unique industrial cluster was set up on these territories due to developing infrastructure by this corporation whose shareholders are Vnesheconombank and the Government of the Kaluga region. In this industrial cluster they manufacture Volkswagen cars, localized spare parts production, develop small and medium-sized enterprises and cooperate with other giants of automotive industry and electronics. This is an example showing that through infrastructure development and support provided by the regional authorities and the national bank for development Russia’s economy and regions became attractive for investors. Similar activities are undertaken by the North Caucasus Development Corporation implementing a whole number of interesting projects in the Caucasus as well as by the Far East and the Baikal Region Development Corporation whose mission is likely to be expanded and it will be able to participate in structuring projects based on concessions and principles of public private partnership. As far as raising investments for Russia is concerned, our contacts with national development institutions and international development institutions showed that Russia is attractive in terms of investments. Statements by Elvira Nabiulina and the current head of the Central Bank suggest that the state is obviously interested in looking for opportunities to co-invest in projects which are of interest for foreigners.

HOST: You’ve mentioned Elvira Nabiulina’s initiatives, do you mean her latest statement that we can invest revenues from oil and gas exports, that is, from the National Wealth Fund in projects with the participation of the Russian Direct Investment Fund?

Vladimir DMITRIEV: We should talk about projects that could be attractive for foreign investors. It’s not a matter above all of investing financial resources of the National Wealth Fund at a good profit rate, although it’s an important goal in itself. Our objective above all is to broaden Russia’s investment appeal, for foreign investors to believe in the state’s readiness to co-invest in projects that are of interest for foreign investors in the context of activities undertaken by the Finance Ministry, G20 financial institutions and our presidency in this prestigious international association. Vnesheconombank put forward an initiative to hold a conference or a meeting of national and international development institutions’ on the sidelines of G20 countries finance ministers’ meeting in July of this year. Here I mean above all such our partners as the China State Development Bank, Germany’s Development Bank – KfW, development banks of BRICS countries and a number of European development institutions. Moreover, international financing institutions and international finance corporation showed interest in participating in this forum, for example the European Investment Bank and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. They are interested in discussing how national and international development institutions can achieve an objective on the agenda of a G20 meeting to be held in Saint Petersburg in autumn – this objective is to secure economic growth to create new jobs and increase employment.

HOST: How in general VEB and the Russian Direct Investment Fund cooperate with other international financing institutions and foreign national development banks?

Vladimir DMITRIEV: So far the Russian Direct Investment Fund has been working with private and sovereign direct investment funds rather than banks. And in this respect, the Fund has achieved a lot: it set up a joint fund with the China Investment Corporation, engaged Kuwait’s sovereign fund in the amount of half a billion dollars for co-financing projects proposed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Today we can see that both European national banks and international financing institutions such as for example the European Investment Bank are interested in discussing their potential participation in projects to be co-financed with the use of the Russian Direct Investment Fund’s financial resources. Our foreign partners trust Russia and are ready to invest in it and this is confirmed by the fact that Vnesheconombank together with Germany’s development bank established a major fund to provide support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Russia. The Fund is designed to enter into capital of companies operating in the high-technology sector. We have preliminary arrangements with other international financing organizations and private investors, private investment funds for them to enter the Fund or to co-invest projects to be identified by us with our German partners. This Fund is already functioning. It was created jointly by Vnesheconombank, the International Finance Corporation and the Russian Finance Ministry – the Fund to Support Regional Banks. It has already conducted two transactions where the Fund entered into capital of regional banks thus increasing their capitalization and ensuring that these banks’ loan portfolio is in the first place used to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the high-technology sector.

HOST: If we talk about BRICS, this subject is also being discussed and recently they have been voicing an opinion that the abbreviation itself has become outdated. Do you think that BRICS has a potential in particular with regard to a BRICS Development Bank project which has been hindered lately.

Vladimir DMITRIEV: To tell you the truth, I’m among those financiers who have a conservative approach to this idea. Neither Vnesheconombank nor BRICS countries’ development banks have been engaged for this project. An association of BRICS countries’ development banks has been set up in our country. This activity is being undertaken at a political level, at a level of finance ministries. But the states could instruct their national financial development institutions to participate in this sort of activity and instead of contributing 50 billion to capital of a BRICS Development Bank it would be better to contribute 2 billion to each of national development banks and each bank would be able to raise at least 15 and may be 20 billion on the market taking into capital adequacy ratio thus forming a significant capital base that would make it possible to fund appropriate infrastructure projects. The most important thing is to identify these projects but this is not our responsibility. If we mean projects that are of interest for all BRICS member countries, appropriate ministries of transportation, economics and industry should be involved in identifying these projects, set a task for us and we’ll be responsible for structuring these projects financially, searching for financial resources to fund them and for financing them. Nobody has answered this question so far. So, I don’t think that this bank will be established in the near future.

HOST: Vladimir Alexandrovich, thank you very much for answering our questions.

Vladimir DMITRIEV: Thank you for interesting questions.