China will most probably become interested in APEC objects

VLADIVOSTOK, April 1, vladivostoktimes.com The Russian officials wish to awake the Chinese companies’ interest in building of the Olympic objects in Sochi in 2014 and APEC Summit in Vladivostok in 2012. The experts suppose that China will most probably become interested in APEC objects due to its geographical proximity, RBC Daily informs. When in crisis the Russian business circles do not rush at investing into Sochi-2014. Therefore the vice-Premier Alexander ZHUKOV said that Russia take an interest in strengthening of the investment cooperation with China when he made his speech at the V Investment Forum “Russia – China” in Beijing last Friday. Mr. ZHUKOV noted that there are great prospects in the field of preparation for the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 and the APEC Summit in Vladivostok. Alexander TKACHEV, the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, would estimate the cost of the Olympic preparation at $20bln. According to Victor KOLODYAZHNYI, the President of “Olimpstroy” Corporation, $10bln has to be invested into the building of sport facilities and the satellite infrastructure. It can entail the heavy expenses from the Federal budget so the authorities intend to minimize the Government investments to Sochi.

The Russian companies are encumbered with foreign banks’ credits and they are unlikely to be able to invest so great amount. The Russian businessmen also have to revise their investment plans as the Government still has low forecasting time-frame (they cannot draw up a three-year budget for the time being). No wonder the Government trends towards the new funding sources and even invite PRC to have a share in Sochi-2014 and Vladivostok-2012 projects.

According to the survey carried out by RBC Daily the Chinese business is most likely to become interested in the APEC objects than Sochi. “The economical and political interest can be caused by the geographical proximity of China to the Russian Far East,” Nikolai KRAINOV explains.    

According to Ken-Wook PIKE, the analyst of Cha­tham House (Beijing), the Chinese business is taking a great interest in cooperation with the Russian companies, but they are disappointed in the interaction with the Russian Government in the field of power economy that is the major sphere for them. “That is why they prefer to invest in the oil and gas projects in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan,” the specialist explains. However, he expects that the Olympic objects may become interesting for CNOOC, the state oil-producing company. “”It could take advantages of sharing in the building of the Olympic objects in Sochi to present itself in Russia,” the specialist says.