Last Updated: 1:55am BST 19/07/2007
The economic links
• The London Stock Exchange is the primary overseas destination for Russian firms seeking to raise capital, with six Russian listings this year worth $12.2bn (£6bn).
• Three Russian flotations worth more than $10bn, including the $8bn listing of Russia’s second largest bank VTB, accounted for half of all money raised in London in the second quarter of 2007.
• Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled energy group, is eager to gain a 10pc share of the British market. It already owns Pennine Natural Gas, the largest privately-owned gas distributor in Britain.
• BP and Royal Dutch Shell still have substantial investments in Russia, despite both ceding control of major projects to Gazprom. BP estimates to have invested $9bn in Russian assets.
• Other major British investors in Russia include Scottish & Newcastle and Rio Tinto.
• Britain invested $3.1bn in Russia in the first quarter of 2007, 10 times more than the United States, making it the third-largest investor during the period.
• Russian property investors have a strong appetite for London residential property.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/18/cnrussia218.xml
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