Zee Beam News

18.04.2005 14:15 MSK MosNews - U.S. investor and head of the Hermitage Capital Management investment fund William Browder said on Monday, April 18, that he considers the Russian stock market to be very attractive and underestimated by many U.S. investors and entrepreneurs. Browder gave an interview to the RIA Novosti news agency on the eve of his speech in front of the Council for Foreign Relations in New York. Browder said that U.S. investors often ask him about the nationalization of private property in Russia, bringing up the embattled Yukos Oil Company as an example. "My answer is this: Yukos is a separate stand-alone case that was caused by certain actions of the company's majority shareholders," he told the agency. The U.S. investor also said that in his opinion Russian authorities won't make "any attempts to nationalize Russian companies". Browder also said that 90 percent of his fund's investments are made into oil and gas companies. He added that for "some time still Russia will remain an exporter of raw materials and metals". He expressed optimism regarding the Russian stock market which attracted $11 billion in investments last year. At the same time Browder said that he wants to show U.S. investors an "objective picture" of Russia. One of the problems that worry the investor is the imperfection of the Russian legal system. "The reform of legal and court systems has to be carried out in order to make Russia a more civilized place to do business in," said Browder. "My company went to court 50 times and lost 44 cases not because we had bad lawyers, but because the legal system needs some fundamental changes. And until this happens Russia will always be considered a risky place to do business." At the same time he said that the presence of a very cheap stock market will allow investors to get large profits in the future. "Russia has the world's cheapest stock market. When everything normalizes and Russia won't be such a cheap place anymore, people who have bought securities for such low prices will become the owners of large fortunes," Browder said.