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Foreign investors worried over rouble weakening - Russian Direct Investment Fund head

The rouble’s exchange rate to the U.S. dollars dropped by about 40% in 2014

MANAMA, December 14. /TASS/. Foreign partners of the Russian Direct Investment Fund are worried over the current rouble weakening, which may brake further investments, the Fund’s head, Kirill Dmitriyev, told TASS on Sunday.

The rouble’s exchange rate to the U.S. dollars dropped by about 40% in 2014 due to falling oil prices and capital drain stemming from international tensions over the situation in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia.

“The rouble weakening worries very many investors,” Dmitrriyev said after talks with a number of sovereign Gulf funds.

Since its establishment in 2011, the Russian Direct Investment Fund has attracted more than six billion U.S. dollars in the Russian economy in the format of co-investments of foreign direct investment and sovereign funds.

Dmitriyev noted that the rouble’s weakening might have a particularly adverse impact on investments in infrastructure projects, where investors were running the risk of negative returns.

“It is important that the rouble stabilizes at a certain level and stays at the level. So, it might be a starting point for attaining positive returns in foreign currencies. We hope the rouble will finally stabilize,” he stressed. “If the rouble remains instable, it will be a strong brake for any further investments”.