RBC's 9th conference, Russia's Investment Outlooks for a New Presidential Term, took place in Davos (Switzerland) from March 17 to 21, 2004. The downhill ski resort was chosen deliberately because it is very easy to see what will happen to our country in the next four years from the high Swiss mountains. It is Davos where regular meetings of the World Economic Forum take place and it made participants of the conference serious. Among the main topics that were discussed at the conference there were: the investment climate in Russia, administrative reforms and their influence on businesses, the weakness of the banking system, another possibility of a default and even producing a new medication against AIDS in Russia.

Most western businessmen, who would like to invest money in Russia, mention a high risk of losing their property and regard the government's interference in businesses as the main factor of instability, Sergey Generalov, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Investor Protection Association said in his report. However, according to Viktor Gerashchenko, the former Chairman of the Central Bank, and the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Property Committee at present, they should not worry about it. Currently, there is no need to create mechanisms of ensuring investments in the Russian economy, declared Gerashchenko in Davos. What investors should worry about is the limitations for capital inflow to the country, the terms and maximum quantities of acquisition of shares and the possibilities to sell these shares in a certain period of time. Russia's investment climate is as good as it has never been and statistics prove this fact. This year, private enterprises will bring more currency to Russia than they will take out of it and the net inflow will reach not fewer than $3bn to $4bn. In addition, major agencies, namely Fitch and S&P, are likely to assign an investment rating to Russia.

It is fair to say that very often foreigners do not know what is going on in our country in reality and that is why they tend to exaggerate their risks. Of course, they have reason for it. The Russian government still does not have a state program for informing foreign investors about the investment climate in Russia. As such, since the mid nineties, economic forums, organized by RosBusinessConsulting, have assumed this responsibility. An investment conference is a unique place that helps Russian businessmen start a dialogue with the European business elite. Investors and issuers are the main participants of the conferences. The way it works is simple. Investors deal with representatives of financial authorities, leading professional brokers and get to know the latest tendencies on the Russian financial market and new financial instruments from primary sources. They get acquainted with owners and top managers of fast developing companies, thus becoming able to assess their risks. As far as issuers (companies that placed their shares on exchanges) are concerned, they have a possibility to draw the attention of the necessary audience and to increase the confidence of investors.

Loud statements, which affected not only investors' interests, were also made at the Davos-2004 conference. Wimm-Bill-Dann will not only feed us milk products and juice, but also a cure for AIDS. The company is planning to buy a technology to produce a medication that prevents the AIDS virus from replicating, David Yakobashvili, a shareholder of Wimm-Bill-Dann declared. According to him, this medication stops the fission process of infected cells and the infected cells became latent. As such, a HIV-carrier cannot infect other people and this mediation will stop the progression of the disease. At present, the company is carrying out negotiations on obtaining all the necessary licenses with a group of medical scientists. The name of the medication is kept in secret. However, it is known that the medication and the company that produces it have all the necessary licenses of the Russian Health Ministry for treatment and producing this drug. Anyway, this is not all people will remember this business conference for. We will tell about other details in our next issues and the results of the conference will speak for themselves.