OREANDA-NEWS. November 25, 2010. Sergey Pyatenko, Director General of FBK Economic and Law School, spoke at Finam.ru on-line conference “Investment Climate in Russia: Half a Step Before the Deadline”. What Russian sectors are of most interest to overseas investors? How was the investment climate changing in Russia through the recent years? What is to be done to improve the situation? The conference attendees were suggested answering those and other questions, reported the press-centre of FBK.

As Sergey Pyatenko noted in discussion, to improve investment climate in our country “an open talk” on current problems is of vital importance. “We should assume that we are on the 50-70 th position in the world in terms of development, correspondingly, our social security and other amenities might be only 10-20 times less than in western countries”, the expert clarified. The expert also highlighted that labor capacity in Russia has been four-five times less than in developed countries. Among the factors with significant influence on Russia’s investment attractiveness, Pyatenko also marked out “extreme taxation and horrible administrative racket”.

The expert also emphasized that to attract overseas investors to the Russian market business needs to develop, however business can be globally competitive only if it corresponds to national character. The expert suggested Japan as example: “Japanese made that big leap because their business model matches them. This is where Japanese collectivism lives side by side with thorough design of the tinniest details for manufacturing TV-sets, best in the world, and at the same time with rejecting invidualists, including those able to bring up the idea of a TV-set itself”. As noted by Pyatenko, the whole Japanese way of life rejects an Individualist able to make something up. “In Russia it is useless to compete with the Japanese in production of goods requiring thorough technology of mass production. We need something basically different”, the expert added.

In conclusion Sergey Pyatenko called appointment of the RF Vice Premier Igor Shuvalov as investment ombudsman “a small step in the right direction”. Appearance of investment ombudsman as well as financial ombudsman (Pavel Medvedev, Deputy) are small bricks in construction of a more civilized society”, the expert summarized.

Director of the foundation Center for Securities Market, Yury Danilov, Director General of the National Rating Agency, Deputy Head of Investment Department of OAO Promsvyazbank, Maria Subbotina, Managing Director legal bureau Padva and Epstein, Semyon Epstein and Head of Capital Markets Department of ZAO Finam, Aleksey Kurasov also attended the conference.