According to official sources characterizing Russia's need for foreign investment, the country's economy is capable of harnessing 50-60 billion dollars annually. The total need for foreign investment for 5-7 years is 200-300 billion dollars.
Foreign investment in the Russian economy should help resolve a number of problems in socio-economic development, namely:
1. The development of potential in the scientific and technical sphere, in particular, convertible enterprises in the military-industrial complex;
2. Promotion of domestic goods and technological innovations in foreign markets;
3. Foreign investment in the Russian economy should contribute to the expansion, as well as diversification of export potentials and the formation of industries capable of replacing imported goods in some sectors;
4. Foreign investment in the Russian economy should contribute to the influx of cash into labor-surplus regions, as well as areas rich in minerals, in order to accelerate their development and production.
5. Foreign investment in the Russian economy should be directed to the creation of employment places, as well as the development of advanced production organization systems;
6. Foreign investment in the Russian economy should be directed to training in civilized relations in the business sphere;
7. Foreign investment in the Russian economy, we should use the development of industrial infrastructure.
The concept and types of foreign investment in the domestic economy include:
1. Investments in the form of government borrowing, which form a public debt, to foreign countries, international financial institutions;
2. Investments in the form of deposits in stocks of enterprises of the country;
3. Investments in the form of investments in securities, which include:
- state, corporate and institutional issuers;
- foreign investment;
4. Loans that enable the national economy (enterprises) to modernize their technical base and technological processes.
Foreign investors who came to Russia are conditionally divided into 2 groups. First, investors who make their investments for strategic purposes aimed at gaining positions in the domestic market of the country. These companies include large corporations. The second group includes investors of medium and small level, they invest, hoping to get the maximum profit. They put forward fairly stringent requirements related to the return on investment. For example, they do not consider projects with an internal rate of return of less than 40-50%.
To attract investment from outside the country’s economy, in order to obtain additional sources of financing, it is necessary to solve a number of problems that are caused by a low level of financial international rating. This, in turn, is a consequence of the legislative, political, as well as economic instability faced by investment activity in the country. Because of this, foreign investors are in no hurry to invest in the country's economy.
Foreign investment in the Russian economy comes from a variety of funds that specialize in developing countries, also pay attention to the domestic economy, some banks and a number of private investors. All deposits of foreign investors are primarily directed to industries that provide the fastest return. Today, such sectors include fuel and food, catering and trade. Most of the investment in the economy comes from, Finland, Germany, China, the United States.
In recent years, foreign investment in Russia has reached the level of $ 45 per person, for comparison, China is $ 137, but in Poland $ 360.