Dmitry Medvedev’s opening remarks:
Ladies and gentlemen, today we are holding a meeting of the Government Commission on Monitoring Foreign Investment. This is the first time meeting in its new composition – I mean the new cabinet members. Its priorities remain the same – to promote our national interests in decision-making on major deals and to create a favourable investment climate in the country. Our task is to prevent any damage to our national interests, on the one hand, and to minimise administrative barriers and expand the range of industries with good investment prospects.
In the four years of its existence, the commission has reviewed 147 applications of investors. I must admit that very few of them were turned down – just eight. The overwhelming majority of applications were approved and the result was impressive – about one trillion roubles were brought into the national economy. This looks particularly good because the competition for investment is escalating and our economies were hit by the financial crisis.
During the last few years a number of decisions were adopted to ease monitoring procedures for foreign investors and investment; simplify the review of investment applications; reduce the number of activities listed as strategic; and facilitate the access of foreign capital to some economic spheres.
We also discussed the activities of our commission quite recently, at the previous meeting. Amendments will be introduced into the legislation on foreign investment that will allow the commission to end repeated review of decisions on preliminary approval of transactions. These amendments will make it possible to extend the term of such decisions if the applicant has performed the necessary actions and fulfilled the commitments. And, last but not least, I hope that verification procedures will be both easier and more effective.
At this meeting we will review a number of applications on deals with strategic assets, as usual. Our task is to determine, in accordance with law, whether the proposed projects are economically profitable and if they conform to our national security requirements.
Needless to say, the Common Economic Space, cooperation with Belarus and Kazakhstan, and Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation have made our market bigger. We will have to learn to operate in the new conditions. It is universally recognised that they are also creating new opportunities. However, we will also face some difficulties. Therefore, we must determine how to work in these new conditions.
Let’s work in accordance with the rules of our commission. Thank you.