According to The Wall Street Journal, the team of American leader Donald Trump is trying to convince the US president that Russia is indeed a potentially attractive destination for American business after the end of the war with Ukraine. However, most foreign experts are inclined to believe that this is just an illusion and self-deception.
Points of attention
- Large-scale investments in Russia are deterred by the risk of new sanctions, nationalization, and personal security.
- Over the past 4 years, the Kremlin has confiscated foreign assets worth about $49 billion.
Russia is in a terrible situation
Members of Trump's team — Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — are trying to convince the US president that Russia's return to the global economy could bring profits to investors and help stabilize relations between the countries.
A statement on this subject was made by geopolitical risk analyst Charles Hecker. It is important to understand that he worked in the USSR and Russia for over 40 years.
Russia is not the Emerald City or El Dorado. The prize is smaller than some people think, he assures.
Foreign experts concluded that the economy of the aggressor country is comparable in scale to the economy of Italy.
However, the key problem is that it has weak growth prospects — all this against the backdrop of a shrinking population, depletion of easily accessible oil reserves, and almost complete dependence on energy.
For any ordinary foreign investor, Russia is still unsuitable for investment, stressed former official of the Central Bank of Russia Alexandra Prokopenko.
