Tatarstan Prime Minister takes part in Russia Calling! Investment Forum organized by VTB Capital

On October 24, Tatarstan Prime Minister Alexey Pesoshin paid a working visit to Moscow to take part in the ninth annual Russia Calling! Investment Forum organized by VTB Capital.

The forum is the leading event in attracting portfolio and strategic investment in the Russian economy and promotes effective cooperation between Russian businesses and international investors.

This year’s event is being held under the slogan Manage the Difficulties, Control the Risks.

Over 2,000 delegates from more than 60 countries, including 500 investors from Russia, Europe, the United States, Asia, the Middle East and Africa are taking part in the forum.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the forum’s plenary session.

Putin noted that Russia’s gross domestic product has been growing for twelve months in a row. Starting from the second quarter of this year, growth has exceeded two percent. Industrial production growth in January-September was 1.8 percent, with manufacturing industries confidently in the black – the automotive, pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries, and electrical equipment are in the lead.

He continued that Russia reached a record low inflation rate. As of October 16, it was 2.7 percent in annual terms. According to Putin, the federal budget’s dependence on the oil market is clearly decreasing. In 2014 oil and gas revenues accounted for more than half of the budget revenues, while this year the figure amounts to about 39 percent. In the next three-year period, only one-third of the federal budget revenues will come from the oil and gas sector.

The President noted that the business community appreciates efforts of the country’s leadership on stabilizing the economy. Confidence is on the rise and businesses, including foreign companies, are ready to invest in the Russian economy.

“Foreign direct investment in non-financial industries totalled 23 billion US dollars over three quarters, having doubled compared to the same period last year, and reaching a four-year high,” Putin said.

He stressed that besides simply consolidating the positive trends it is necessary to infuse additional dynamics to the Russian economy and make it more efficient. First of all, labour productivity should be increased by modernizing production and launching new industrial facilities that are based on the latest technology. Work on training qualified specialists is underway. Putin noted that Russia won the team scoring in skilled labour jobs at the WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi recently.

More information is available on the official website of the Russian President.