MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Andrey Kutepov, the head of the economic policy committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian legislative assembly, sent a letter to First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov with a proposal to set up a special fund for rare and rare-earth metals to facilitate interaction with foreign investors.
A copy of the document was seen by TASS. The proposal was made at the conclusion of the meeting on the subsoil licensing issues held last December.
"Meeting attendees suggest considering the following issues as proposals on interaction with foreign investors: establishment of a special rare and rare-earth metals fund. Foreign investments into the sector of rare, including rare-earth metals, will be implemented via a special fund created under Russian laws (probably in special economic zones)," the letter indicates.
The Russian entities are proposed to control operations of the fund. "The fund will separately track investments in each selected project and will be a shareholder in such projects on behalf of foreign investors. Domestic investors will be project shareholders under current Russian laws," the document reads.
Foreign investors will not therefore hold stakes in projects directly. Profits from operations of a relevant project of the fund can be paid to them via special accounts.