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Russia unlikely to improve investment climate in coming years — Kudrin

Russia's former Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin called for making the system of state management in Russia more harmonious and transparent

Russia's former Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Russia's former Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin

© EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

SOCHI, September 19. /ITAR-TASS/. It is highly unlikely that Russia will be able to improve investment climate in the next 1.5-2 years, former Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin said on Friday

According to Kudrin, who chairs the Supervisory Board of the Moscow Stock Exchange, the task of improving the investment climate cannot be accomplished without reshuffles in the ruling elite of the country.

“In the next 1.5 or 2 years, it is hard to expect that the investment climate will improve unless a political task is set and the relative steps are taken. But this demands the renewal of the team and political will. Otherwise, nothing will change in this matter,” Kudrin told reporters in Sochi.

Kudrin has called for making the system of state management in Russia more harmonious and transparent, stressing that this effort could result in the economic growth in the country of up to 2%. “The quality of state management today does not meet the tasks of the economic growth,” he said.

The former finance minister earlier estimated the outflow of capital investment from the Russian economy by the end of the year at $110 billion. Earlier, his forecast for this year looked far worse, standing at $150-160 billion.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday that the cumulative net private capital outflow from Russia reached $75 billion in the first six months of the year.

Russian Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev on Thursday predicted a significant decline in the annual capital flight rate in several years. He expects that the outflow of capital will shrink to $30 billion in 2016 and to $20 billion in 2017.

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