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18 I Companies & Markets bne September 2018
funding only 28 projects last year versus 43 in 2016. France followed suit, reducing the number of its new projects from 20 to 11 over last year.
On the other hand, Italy increased the number of FDI proj- ects in 2017, with 17 new projects in Russia, on par with the Japanese. Switzerland also boosted its presence in Russia by investing in 11 projects last year compared with seven in 2016. The UK also increased the number of its projects, but from a very low base. It put up capital in eight projects in 2017 versus two in 2016, thus becoming one of the 10 largest investors in Russia. Finland ranked tenth among Russia’s top investors, with seven projects in both 2016 and 2017, according to EY.
After record growth in 2016, US investment activity in Russia slowed, reducing the number of projects by half, from 38 to 19. Yet, the US ranked third among the 10 largest FDI providers for Russia.
Moscow and Moscow Oblast remained the most attractive
to investors in 2017, with 54 projects (2016: 49). In 2017 a significant number of those projects (10) comprised invest- ments in the pharmaceuticals industry. The leader in investing in the Moscow region was Germany (10 projects) followed by China (six projects). US and Swiss companies invested in four projects each.
St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast were placed at number two with 17 FDI projects vs. 15 projects in 2016. Of those, Finnish investors financed three projects. German, Israeli and US companies supported two projects each.
"Based on the 2017 results, many Russian regions demonstrated positive growth. In Tatarstan, the number of FDI projects doubled from seven to 14, of, which three are financed by US investors. China and Turkey invested in two projects each,” Ivlev said.
Primorsky Krai in Russia’s Far East also showed significant growth, with the number of new projects increasing in 2017 from seven to 12. Interest predominantly came from Asian investors, with three projects financed by investors from main- land China, while Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong companies invested in two projects each, and businesses from India and Cambodia invested in one project each."
With nine FDI projects, Lipetsk Oblast made it into the top 10 regions in 2017 (from only two projects in 2016). All of the projects were financed by European investors except two projects supported by US companies.
Several Russian regions raised FDI for five projects each: Bashkortostan, Belgorod, Vladimir, Novosibirsk and Ulyanovsk oblasts, and Stavropol Krai. Bashkortostan was the only region in Russia, which attracted investors from Vietnam. Two proj- ects in the food sector were financed by Vietnamese compa- nies. Three out of five projects in Belgorod were launched by German investors. In 2016 only two projects were underway
in Belgorod and none in Bashkortostan.
The situation was the reverse in Kaluga Oblast, which is home to a highly successful auto-cluster and was number two in 2016. In 2017 the number of FDI projects declined from 15
to seven, with the investors being only from Europe.
UK with top exposure to Turkish private sector foreign loans
Akin Nazli in Belgrade
Turkey’s private sector long-term foreign loans contracted by 2% q/q to stand at $222bn as of end-June, the central bank said on August 15.
European countries have a combined $111bn exposure to Turkish private companies’ outstanding long-term foreign credits – the most of any group. They were led by the UK with $30bn and second-placed Germany with $22bn.
Turkey, enduring a torrid currency crisis, was at the beginning of this week described by many analysts as being days away from entering a debt and liquidity crisis, but a recovery in the value of the Turkish lira (TRY) is under way, thus leading some observers to revise their predictions.
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