Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine’s accumulated investment in Eurasia beyond the CIS increased by 68% over three years

Italy is the top recipient of FDI in Europe, Turkey in the Middle East, and India in South and Southeast Asia.

Saint Petersburg, 10 December 2014. Despite the global economic crisis, accumulated foreign direct investment (FDI) by the CIS four largest economies in Eurasia beyond the CIS grew from US $41.1 billion to US $69 billion in 2010-2013. This is stated in the report Monitoring of Direct Investment by Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine in Eurasia 2014 (MDI Eurasia) prepared by Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Centre for Integration Studies. The report is based on the analysis of a large-scale database on FDI, developed by the EDB Centre for Integration Studies and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO).

*Data here and in the tables and charts below are in US $ billion.

The report states that 89.8% (US $62.6 billion) of all FDI accumulated by the four CIS countries in Eurasia are that of Russia. The top recipients of Russian FDI are EU countries, which accounted for more than 54% of all FDI in 2013. Italy’s share reached almost 14.8%, Germany’s 8.0%, the UK’s 5.8%, and Bulgaria’s 4.9%.

Beyond the EU, the top ten recipients are Turkey (10.9%), Iraq (6.8%), India (6.3%), Pakistan (5.8%), Bangladesh (5.3%), and Vietnam (3.3%). In recent years Russian FDI in the Middle East countries, as well as South Asia countries grew rapidly.

Kazakhstan does not expand its investment in Eurasia beyond the CIS at the moment (US $4.5 billion), but has potential to significantly enhance its investment activity. Ukraine’s FDI totals US $1.8 billion. Belarus has almost zero investment in Eurasian countries beyond CIS.

The leading corporate investor in Eurasia is Russian LUKOIL. The top ten investors include four more oil and gas companies: Gazprom, KazMunayGas (Kazakhstan), Rosneft and Zarubezhneft.

This year MDI Eurasia reviews, in addition to FDI made by the region’s countries, FDI made to the CIS top four economies by Eurasian countries, including Austria, Turkey, India, Vietnam and China. The report states, in particular, that Turkish FDI (US $7.8 billion) are special in that they are strongly diversified by sectors and that Indian FDI (US $15 billion) has a high specific weight in the total amount of direct investment in the CIS, while the number of investment projects they are channeled into is not that big. In particular ArcelorMittal, which is controlled by the Indian capital, accounts for 76% of all Indian FDI in the CIS. The second largest Indian investor is ONGC with its US $3.5 billion investment in oil and gas production in Russia.

Overall, the report provides data on and analysis of 620 investment projects. The Centre for Integration Studies believes that this information will help companies to better understand the Eurasian business environment and the states to promote corporate integration with a view to improving the competitiveness of their national economies. MDI Eurasia is available online.

Additional Information

Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. EDB’s charter capital exceeds US $1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan. Read more at https://www.eabr.org.

The Centre for Integration Studies is a specialized think tank of the Eurasian Development Bank. The Centre organises research and prepares reports and recommendations on regional economic integration.