#1 - JRL 7187
Accumulated foreign investment in Russia rises 25% over year

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - Accumulated foreign investment in Russia totaled $43 billion at the end of March 2003, up 25% year-on- year, the State Statistics Committee reported Monday.

Foreign capital of $6.268 billion came into Russia over the first quarter of 2003 and $3.326 was withdrawn.

Accumulated foreign capital at the end of March 2003 totaled $15.528 billion in Russian industry, $15.263 billion in trade and restaurant services (including $10.749 billion in foreign trade), $3.59 billion in telecommunications, $2.665 billion in transport, $636 million in finance, loans, insurance and pensions, $230 million in agriculture and $8 million in tourism.

The State Statistics Committee said 45.5% or $19.594 billion of the total foreign investment was direct investment; 2.7% or $1.14 billion portfolio investment; 51.8% or $22.297 billion other investment in the form of loans by international financial organizations trade credits and the like. At the end of March 2002, these proportions were 49.9%, 3.9% and 46.2% respectively.

Most of the cumulative investment came from Germany ($10.56 billion), Cyprus ($5.513 billion), the United States ($5.298 billion), Britain ($4.998 billion), France ($2.794 billion), the Netherlands ($2.652 billion), Italy ($1.344 billion), Japan ($1.06 billion) and Switzerland ($1.027 billion), which between them accounted for 85.2% of the total, including 82.1% of the direct investment.