Page 33 - RusRPTDec18

22.3% largely due to decreasing grain prices
4.4 Fixed investment
Russia -Fixed capital investment 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Mar-2018
Investment (% of GDP)
24.3 22.9 22.0 21.4 22.5 23.5 15.3
GDP: Gross fixed investment capital formation (USD mn)
471,337 496,982 428,573 276,240 280,350 342,294 58,303
source: CEIC
Russian non-oil and gas industrial majors pledged RUB7.3 trillion ($109bn) of investment in 143 projects under Kremlin-driven push to contribute to infrastructure development, RBC business portal reported on November 27 citing the notes of the November 26 Finance Ministry meeting. In August presidential aide Andrei Belousov controversially proposed to slap a one-time selective tax on "extra revenues" of 14 Russia's largest metals and chemical majors worth up to RUB500bn. The idea caused a strong negative reaction on the markets and was opposed by the government, but evolved into a pretext to mobilise the capex of the companies for Vladimir Putin's six-year RUB8 trillion spending spree. Since then other industrial majors joined the call, with 21 companies reportedly suggesting RUB7.3 trillion worth of investment under 143 projects. The largest investors are Norilsk Nickel of Vladimir Potanin, Metalloinvest of Alisher Usmanov, and Polyus Gold of Said Kerimov (son of Suleiman Kerimov), jointly accounting for RUB1.8 trillion of investment, according to RBC. The latest reports on the plans indicated that private companies would be mobilised to contribute to infrastructure development plan, the investment programs Digital Economy and Ecology. The projects on the Finance Ministry's list are not specified, but RBC suggests that the pledged amounts largely overlap with the investment programmes of the companies. Unnamed sources claim that the Finance Ministry did not accept all the projects submitted. Other large contributors are Sibur petrochemical major, Severstal steel company, Uralkali and Phosagro fertiliser majors. Out of 21
33 RUSSIA Country Report December 2018 www.intellinews.com