Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 10
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Azerbaijan and Russia are strengthening investment cooperation, Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) said in a report entitled ‘Monitoring of Mutual Investments in CIS Countries 2017’.
According to the report, Azerbaijani investors display an ever-growing interest in Russia.
Over the last three years, there has been a considerable increase in the number of major tourism and construction investment projects implemented in Russia, with the share of Azerbaijani investors increasing from 2.4 percent in 2013 to 10.5 percent at the end of 2016.
Two large-scale projects deserve special mention: the construction of the Ene-Sai Hotel Complex in the Republic of Tyva, Russia and the construction of the Istochnik Resort and Spa in Russia’s Stavropol Krai. The first project is valued at $33 million, the second at $25 million.
“In 2016 alone, more than a quarter of all new Azerbaijani direct investments in the region was used to finance the construction of two hotel complexes in Russia,” the report said. “Large-scale construction projects include a residential complex (Pirogov Riviera in Moscow); considerable funds have also been channeled into production of construction materials.”
According to the report, in 2016 an investment project was also implemented in mechanical engineering: a private company, AS Group Investment, provided investment financing to the Kirov Engineering Plant “Kirovsky Mashzavod 1 Maya”, which has been experiencing financial problems since 2014.
It is expected that, in 2017 Azerbaijani investors will commence a number of new projects in Russia, with a special emphasis on Daghestan.
As for Russia’s investments in Azerbaijan, the largest investment project is represented by Russia’s LUKOIL in the Azerbaijani oil and gas sector.
Other important target sectors include Finance and Wholesale and Retail Trade. Finance investments are represented by a VTB subsidiary in Baku, the privately owned NIKOIL Commercial Investment Bank.
The only large-scale project launched in 2016 is the construction of a pharmaceutical plant in Baku, with a stake held by the Russian R-Pharm privately owned company.