Russia Wealth Fund to boost infrastructure investment
November 7, 2013, 10:36 am

Russia is one the world’s largest exporters of oil, gas and metals but struggles with infrastructure challenges [Getty Images]

“We agreed that part of the Fund’s resources would be invested in major infrastructure projects, above all transport projects such as modernising the Trans-Siberian Railway and Baikal-Amur Mainline, as well as building the Central Ring Road around Moscow,” President Putin said in a statement posted on the Kremlin website.

Russia is one the world’s largest exporters of oil, gas and metals but struggles with infrastructure challenges.

According to Russia’s Transport Ministry, the country’s economic output is seven to nine per cent lower than it could be owing to bad roads and poor transport facilities.

Putin during Wednesday’s government meet said the National Welfare Fund, a key fiscal buffer built up by the Kremlin during years of high energy prices, could be used to develop Moscow airports and “strengthen the potential of Siberia and the Far East.”

“As of November 1, 2013, the National Wealth Fund had a total of 2.845 trillion roubles [$87.8 billion]. The Fund’s current governing provisions allow for up to 40 per cent of its funds to be invested,” said the president.

Putin also said the infrastructure projects planned by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) that includes energy-efficient technology, information technology, and seaports, roads and pipelines, have foreign investors on board.

The RDIF and China Investment Corporation (CIC) established the $2 billion US Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF) when President Vladimir Putin visited China in June last year.

The RDIF has already raised around $9 billion in foreign capital for joint investment projects.

The BRICS Post