Russia Always Seeking Mutually Beneficial Ties With Foreign Businesses

Moscow, March 5: Russia has always been and remains a country looking for mutually beneficial interaction with foreign businesses, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.

“Russia has been, is and will be a country looking for mutually beneficial relations with foreign business, interested in being attractive for investment. Yes, now it is hardly possible to talk about investment attractiveness, but time is changing rapidly, and this time will be replaced by a time of rapid economic growth and a time when these same companies will return to the market again and will be more than interested in catching up and restoring their positions,” Peskov said.

Some sectors of Russian markets will wait for these companies, while in other fields they will be replaced by businesses from other countries, Peskov noted, when asked whether Russia will make any conclusions about the bygone foreign enterprises regarding their possible return in time. “This is a normal economic process,” Peskov added.

The Western infringement on assets of Russian businesspeople abroad as part of sanctions over the operation in Ukraine is a violation of their “sacred right” to property, Peskov said. Since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, the West has been increasing the pressure on Moscow in terms of sanctions.

Several Western countries began seizing property of those Russian businesspeople who became targeted by sanctions, including the seizure of yachts and real estate. “This is how see it, and this is the quintessence of the economic banditry. It is an attack on the sacred right to property. It is nothing less than an attack on the sacred right to property, not justified in any way, neither legally, nor economically nor morally. This is the way to look at it,” Peskov told a briefing.