ST. PETERSBURG, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – The construction projects that will result from last week's gas deal between Moscow and Beijing may become a serious stimulus for foreign investment into Russia, but US and EU sanctions have deprived Western companies of potential business, First Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Sberbank Maxim Poletaev said.
“Putin has announced this major top-priority project [construction associated with China’s gas deal]. Where else in the world would you find one? Everyone wants to make money, this construction project requires huge resources, huge contracts,” Poletaev told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum over the weekend.
“Look at Turkish companies: without any ideological prejudice, they came in and built half of Sochi facilities ahead on the Olympics and earned money there,” he said.
Russian business, anticipating new, tougher Western sanctions triggered by Moscow's policy on Ukraine, is fearing the acceleration of capital outflows and the refusal of foreign companies to cooperate with Russia. Poletaev believes the Western business community regrets policy decisions undermining international cooperation.
“The interest in Russia is not lost: Western business is both eager and reluctant to speak. I feel a sense of regret on the part of Western investors about the very tensions, which is brought on not by the business, but rather by the countries’ administration, interested in achieving their narrow political objectives,” he said.
Poletaev added that Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has expanded its international business, buying subsidiaries in Europe and Turkey, and is currently faced with heightened worries on the part of its foreign partners.
Gazprom and CNPC signed a 30-year contract last week for the sale of Russian gas to China at a volume of 38 billion cubic meters per year with delivery via an eastern pipeline, which will cross Siberia to reach China’s populous northeast regions. The deal is estimated to be worth $400 billion. The first gas deliveries to China from Russia are expected to begin in the next four to six years, with a $25 billion advance for deliveries a possible option.
The project includes the large-scale construction of factories for the production of helium and gas products, along with new infrastructure facilities. A separate route that could deliver gas to China’s western provinces to provide diversification is also in the works.
