RBC's 10th investment conference "Expansion of Capital. From National Economies to a Transnational Economy" took place in Hong Kong on November 6-11. The business forum brought together around 200 businessmen and politicians from major Eurasian countries.

The hosts of the conference intentionally chose Hong Kong. This major financial center is a great example to other countries in terms their ability to create a favorable business environment. Profit and wage taxes are low here, namely 16% and 15% respectively, British common law and the independence of the courts are strictly observed here. In addition, the Hong Kong stock exchange creates extremely favorable conditions for companies willing to do IPOs. This is of immense importance for Russian businessmen, especially if taking into consideration a high inflation rate in the country and on-going ruble strengthening. It is natural that Russian businesses have begun looking closer at Hong Kong. According to experts, following the initial issue of Eurobonds by Gazprom in September 2003, as well as by NOMOS-Bank, MDM-Finance, and NIKoil in 2004, the stake of Asian investors reached 8-40%.

"We used to pay a lot of attention to investments in Russia. Now it is time to talk about Russia's investments in foreign assets, - General Director of RBC Yury Rovensky said. - Russia's economic growth is adding pace. Russian businesses are getting more and more involved in global processes. Russia's direct investments in Western assets have become among the main trends in our economy."

General Director of the Moscow International Business Association Alexander Borisov was quoted as saying that the association possessed information on around 300 projects of 111 Russian companies with assets in 62 countries worldwide. "But in reality, this number is three-four times bigger, - Mr. Borisov said. - Owing to the positive economic situation over the last several years and free financial assets at hand, second and even third-tier companies were getting more and more involved in the process of buying assets abroad."

Our companies are looking not only for attractive investments abroad but also stability, convenient business infrastructure and economic freedom that they lack in their homeland. In the opinion of Russian Presidential Advisor Andrey Illarionov, economic freedom has been sagging in Russia lately. As a result, the GDP has been decreasing too. The only way this situation can be fixed is through minimizing state expenses, pursuing open demographic policies, and doing away with the legal restriction of economic growth in Russia. The YUKOS case is a sad example of Illarionov's thesis about lower economic freedom in the country, Chairman of the Board of Directors of YUKOS Viktor Gerashchenko emphasized. According to him, the worsening of the business climate in Russia can be extremely negative for the company. YUKOS may declare bankruptcy at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting scheduled for December 20.