Russian FDI in Central and Eastern European Countries: Opportunities and Threats

Abstract

Russian outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has been showing a very promising performance in recent years. The Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have become a key destination, but this is often viewed with suspicion by host countries. The paper begins with the quantity and geographical distribution of Russian capital investment, pointing to differences between estimates and official OFDI data reported on a balance-of-payments basis by the Central Bank of Russia, which are frequently revised. In some years, OFDI has exceeded the FDI inflows into Russia, which is very unusual for an ex-communist transformation country. It is also paradoxical that FDI from relatively poor and less developed Russia should be supporting the economies of relatively more developed countries. When the destinations are examined, it emerges that some of the FDI is round-tripping and transshipping , as a significant proportion of the investment is conducted indirectly, through third economies. 5 According to Forbes, Russia's richest had a combined wealth of USD 90.6 billion in 2005, putting Russia in 1

Vişegrad Ülkelerinde Rus Şirketleri

“…In the second half of the 1990s, Poland was the second most important destination for Russian OFDI behind the United States. Including estimates of transhipped FDI, the Russian share in the inward FDI stock of Poland did not exceed 1% in 2008 52 and this share probably remained similar afterwards.…”