MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. Russia is ready for large-scale domestic and foreign investment, and the government is seeking to lay the groundwork for that, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told a forum of the Russian Direct Investment Fund entitled: "Investment in Regions, Investment in the Future."
"Today, the Russian government is sending a clear signal to businesses, both foreign and domestic, that we are ready for serious, large-scale investment, we intend to create all the necessary conditions for investors, and to guarantee clear-cut rules of the game," she said.
The upper house’s speaker noted, however, that investment activity should be in tune with the key trajectories of Russia’s development, outlined in the May Decree of President Vladimir Putin as well as with documents on strategic planning.
In her address to the forum, she specifically emphasized the "huge domestic investment potentials" of Russian entrepreneurs that should not be overlooked. "Occasionally, I meet with the management of major companies and business people, saying ‘guys, its high time to move back to the homeland from London, and bring in resources’," she mentioned.
"They say ‘we are ready to do this, but let the government say loud and clear that it is interested, let the government offer us major investment, infrastructure and other projects in which it is interested’," she cited them as saying.
The speaker stressed that investors need long-term guarantees that the government’s policy won’t change, as well as they need a stable social and political situation. "A really favorable investment climate is what’s most important for the investor. This implies fast-track processing of paperwork, an absence of obstacles, corruption or bribes and the ‘single window’ principle among others," she pointed out.
She pledged the parliament’s support for investors, including reviewing legislation if necessary. "We have done a lot for that at the federal level over the recent years, first of all in legislation, and we are ready to continue dialogue with the regional leadership, with business and with investors to legislate what they think should be regulated, revised and specified," she summed up.