04 June 2004 22:47
Citigroup official: Russia`s voluntarism towards companies may scare
investors
MOSCOW. June 4 (Interfax) - Corporate management in Russia is generally improving, but the state's use of
voluntaristic measures towards individual companies, like what happened in the Yukos case, may scare investors away,
Citigroup Vice-Chairman Stanley Fisher said at the Corporate Governance and Economic Growth conference in Russia on
Friday.
At the same time, the overall volume of Russia's financial sector
is still relatively low, 17-19% of the GDP, which is much lower than
If the government takes voluntaristic actions towards companies, it considerably lowers investors' confidence,
said Fisher, who was previously a top official with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and worked actively with
Russia. At the same time, such situations arise in many countries and Russia is no exception here, he said. Fisher said
he believes the situation in this area needs improvement, in particular, by increasing transparency, strengthening law
enforcement, and fighting corruption.
Judging by the quality of accounting reports submitted by corporations, corporate management in Russia and the
situation in companies are generally improving at a microeconomic level, Fisher said. In addition, Fisher noted a
considerable decrease in capital flight from Russia.
that of developed Asian countries, Fisher said. For this reason, he believes the government should pay more attention
to developing the financial system in all areas, including the banking reform and the development of the securities
market and currency markets. These areas should remain key priorities, Fisher said. [RU EEU EUROPE ASIA EMRG FIN] av
tj
[Interfax] |
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