UK Trade & Investment and Russian Direct Investment Fund Host Joint "Invest in Russia" Conference

MOSCOW, April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Investors managing over £1 trillion in attendance

Over 100 senior representatives from London's leading international private equity funds and UK corporations are meeting today with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russian corporations and Russian financial market practitioners at London's Mansion House to discuss private equity and foreign direct investment opportunities into Russia.  

The conference, "Invest in Russia" is organised jointly by UK Trade & Investment and the RDIF.  Investors that manage in excess of £1 trillion are participating in the event.

Today's conference follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between UK Trade & Investment and RDIF during the Prime Minister's visit to Russia last year. Deals worth £215 million were signed during the visit as well as agreements to co-operate between businesses, academia and governments.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund is a $10 billion private equity fund established in 2011 by the Russian government to make investments primarily in the Russian economy. The fund partners with co-investors in every transaction and today's event is an opportunity for UK-based private equity funds and corporates to hear directly from the Russian companies MICEX-RTS and Enel OGK 5 which the RDIF has already invested in and from international private equity investors which the RDIF has worked with in its first two transactions totalling approximately USD 1 billion.

Russia is one of the UK's fastest-growing major export markets and identified by UK Trade & Investment as one of the UK's twenty priority high growth and emerging markets. UK goods exports to Russia in 2011 increased by 3 per cent from 2010, and totalled almost £5billion.

The Minister for Trade & Investment, Lord Green, said:

"Russia is an important market for the UK and undoubtedly offers significant opportunities for UK businesses.  Last year UK exports grew by almost 40%, which exceeded our performance in other strong markets such as Japan and the UAE.  There are over 600 UK companies already established in Russia and I anticipate this figure will increase as Russia continues to seek expertise to develop its infrastructure and economy.  I warmly welcome today's event as an opportunity for British business to explore the opportunities presented by this fund and encourage more British firms to contact UK Trade & Investment to find out how they might explore opportunities in Russia and elsewhere."

Kirill Dmitriev, Chief Executive of RDIF added:

"Russia is a very attractive investment destination for UK companies mainly because of its superior growth prospects and stable macroeconomic indicators.  This is demonstrated by the increase in foreign direct investment into Russia from USD 43 billion in 2010 to USD 52 billion in 2011.  Over the next few years we have ambitious plans to transform Moscow into a leading financial centre, diversify the economy, modernise the country's infrastructure, and significantly develop the volume of international financial and strategic direct investments into Russia.  There is also a growing consumer class in Russia who appreciates the strength and appeal of UK brands.  Long-term investment is needed for Russia to continue its development and I am delighted by the strong support from UK Trade & Investment and the positive messages coming from British corporate and financial investors.  I look forward to working with UK business to realise their investment goals in Russia."

In addition to keynote speeches from Lord Green and Kirill Dmitriev, participants are hearing from companies that have received investment from RDIF, international funds co investing with RDIF, and British companies that have successfully invested in Russia.  The full list of speakers are:

Ruben Aganbegyan, Chief Executive of MICEX-RTS
Dmitry Konov, Chief Executive of Sibur
Enrico Viale, Chief Executive of Enel OGK 5
Michael Calvey, Founder and Co Managing Partner of Baring Vostock Capital Partners
Peter Hambro, Executive Chairman of Petropavlovsk
Hans-Joerg Rudloff, Chairman of Barclays Capital
Alexey Mekhonoshin, Senior Vice President at PepsiCo Russia
Sergey Lykov, Deputy Chairman of Vnesheconombank
Natasha Tsukanova, Founder and Managing Director, Xenon Capital Partners
Damien Secen, CEO of Macquarie Renaissance Infrastructure Fund
Alexander Ikonnikov, Chairman of Russian Independent Directors Association
Evgeny Gavrilenkov, Chief Economist at Troika Dialog
Steve Varley, Managing Partner of Ernst & Young UK
Roger Gifford, Alderman of the City of London

RDIF's full senior management team of 5 Directors are also taking part in the conference as is Russia's ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko.    

Media contact

UK Trade & Investment
Benno Hilton
+44(0)20-7215-4218
benno.hilton@ukti.gsi.gov.uk.  

Russia Direct Investment Fund
Quinn Martin
+7-495-797-3790
quinn@frontierpr.com