Head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AMCHAM) Alexis Rodzianko in an interview with Lente.ru called Russia an attractive direction for investing investors.
“The Russian market is very interesting due to increased yield, which becomes possible due to high geopolitical risks,” said Rodzianko.
According to him, criminal processes like that was held over the founder of the Baring Vostok Investment Fund, Michael Kalvi, do not scare investors from the USA, as it was and in the case of Calvi: “I think the market reacted not to his situation. As they say in Russia , not due to, and in spite of “.
At the same time, Rodzianko acknowledged that the political situation in Russia and pressure from law enforcement agencies create additional risks for investors, including from the USA: “They, of course, create an additional risk. If you work with private capital investing in startups You need to understand that you are encountered not only with business risks. You are also interested in personal risks to get to the disassembly with the participation of law enforcement agencies. “
Michael Calvi, who founded Baring Vostok in 1994, was detained and accused of fraud in early 2019. According to investigators, he convinced the management of the Bank “East” to take from the first collection office (both companies belonged to the Fund at that time) as a payment on the issued loan of the IFTG shares of the company, the cost of which was much lower than the obligations of the first colleagor bureau. In 2021, Calvi was sentenced to 5.5 years.
Rodzianko is headed by the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, which is responsible for supporting American business and communicating with its Russian partners, since 2013. Prior to that, he worked in American and Russian investment banks, in particular, headed by the Russian branch of JPMorgan.