Doing Business in Russia. Котова К.П - 37 стр.

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view and added that our state appropriates gold from everybody, does not sell it
and does not allow it to be used for mortgage and still has no gold. The gold re-
serves of the USA are counted in hundreds of thousands of tons, while those of
Russia equal 340 tons.
      The head of the Mineral Resources Committee stressed several times in
course of the discussion that foreign investments in the mining and prospecting
of mineral resources are negligible, and that no one wished to actually invest
money, despite lengthy negotiations.
      As one of the participants in the discussion aptly pointed out we have in
general formed an erroneous opinion of foreign investors as idiots who come
with money, give it to us and go away, not counting on getting it back. It stands
to reason that a gigantic monopolist like Gazprom cannot attract investments
since serious investors demand not only dividends but also the right to take part
in managing the concern, while Gazprom’s leadership does not, and this is also
natural, want to share its power with anyone.
      Incidentally the chairman of the Mineral Resourced Committee made it
clear that he does not mind if the development of our deposits is handed over to
foreign firms, while the Russian businessmen asserted, on the contrary, that we
have swapped foreign investments for economic independence and have done
the right thing. Their motivation is essentially the same as that of Russian bank-
ers who come out in favor of restricting the rights of foreign banks operating in
this country.
      The Russian businessmen proposed waiting for a couple of years until our
own investors appear, but the fact is that, in order to build the capacity to mine
one ton of gold it is necessary, according to Orlov, to spend about a million dol-
lars on equipment and infrastructure. The scale of the expenditure certainly can-
not be compared to buying a Volvo or building a cottage. To conclude on an op-
timistic note I can add that the representatives of major Russian banks who were