VLADIVOSTOK, September 12th. /TASS/. Russia continues to expand cooperation with Asian countries and work is underway to abolish visa requirements for a number of countries, including the possibility of introducing a visa-free regime with China, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said on the sidelines of Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) .
Although Sberbank boss Herman Gref said that speculators are putting pressure on the ruble exchange rate, forum participants do not expect another increase in the key interest rate.
TASS has collected the most important statements from the forum participants.
Asia is getting closer
On the development of relations between Russia and China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that they had reached "a very high level." He also highlighted that trade turnover with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region "increased by 18.3%" in the first half of this year.
Meanwhile, Russia is actively working to cancel visas for Asian countries. “We have a fairly successful visa regime with some [Asian] countries,” said Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Rudenko. “This is a very important task and we will continue to fulfill it,” the senior diplomat added.
Russia is already preparing intergovernmental agreements on visa-free travel with eleven countries: Malaysia, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Haiti, Zambia, Kuwait, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago.
Rudenko did not rule out the introduction of a visa-free regime between Russia and China in the future. In turn, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Chinese Embassy in Russia, Liu Xuesong, said on the sidelines of the EEF that Beijing welcomes the possible introduction of a visa-free regime with Russia, as it will promote tourism and the exchange of economic delegations.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), described the potential of Asia and the Middle East for investment in Russian infrastructure projects as enormous. According to him, investors plan “to introduce various elements of financial infrastructure that are important for the Russian Federation.” “We are talking about creating depots for stocks, payment systems, etc.,” he added.
Ruble exchange rate
As Alexander Shokhin, Chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said, companies will adapt to any exchange rate, even if it increases not just as a percentage, but several times over. He hopes that the peak of the devaluation has passed and the ruble will become more stable in the medium term.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin noted, there are no insoluble problems with the ruble exchange rate, but the country's financial authorities still need to take a closer look at this issue.
According to Sberbank boss Herman Gref, profiteers are putting pressure on the ruble exchange rate.
“Today a very large over-the-counter foreign exchange market has developed, which is beyond our jurisdiction, with the ruble taking a hit, and over-the-counter trading. We need to carefully consider what can be done about it. We have submitted our ideas, but my experience has shown that administrative procedures are ineffective," he said.
Key interest rate
According to Andrey Kostin, CEO of VTB, the Bank of Russia will keep the key interest rate at 12% at the board meeting on September 15. He expressed this opinion in conversations with journalists on the sidelines of the EEF.