"Five years ago, there was no money from Russia at all here," he said, "two years ago, the first investors came. And today we are witnessing a growth in Russian investments."
According to him, the outflow of money from Europe to Asia can be explained by several factors.
"First, it is the desire to diversify their assets," he said. "Second, it is the result of the European Union's recent decisions to introduce a tax on the investment income and to disclose the information about the owners of the offshore companies. And third, many businessmen want to keep their money closer to the growing Asian market."
According to Societe Generale's economists, next year European clients will account for approximately a quarter in the growth of the Asian assets.
"The precise data about Russian investments is strictly confidential," he continued, "but we can say that clients from Eastern Europe account for about half of the European assets, and Russia is the biggest country in that region."
He said that nearly all Russian money in Asia, had not come directly from Russia, but through European offshore centers.
"Nevertheless, we do have information about the origin of all capital," he said.
Mr. Truchi said the majority of investors with whom his company works are well known businessmen in Russia.
In a telephone interview with RIA Novosti, Executive Director of SG Private Banking Asia Pacific Pierre Baer spoke about the peculiarities of the Russian investors' behavior on the Asian markets.
"They are more conservative than West European and Asian investors and prefer to deposit money or buy bonds," he said, "though in Asia you can find abroad choice of innovation products with a higher profitability. Sometimes, the Hong Kong assets are used for investments in Russia."
Mr. Baer also noted that Russians usually have much more money than clients from other countries.
"An average investment from Russia reaches $15 million, while an ordinary Societe Generale client invests $1 million-$5 million," he noted.
In Mr. Truchi's opinion, it is now possible to speak about the beginning of a large redistribution process of Russian assets from Europe to Asia.
"You are the first reporter with whom we are talking about this trend," he said, "and I hope that in several months we will have a fuller picture of the developments. I recently visited Russia and I was surprised by the interest which Russian business shows in the Asian assets."
