Putin said foreign direct investment was estimated to reach $40 billion in 2010, compared with only $16 billion last year, but FDI statistics in Russia are distorted by offshore ownership of major Russian firms.
The commission, chaired by Putin, gave a green light for acquisition of Russian juice and dairy firm Wimm-Bill-Dann by PepsiCo for $3.8 billion, one of the biggest acquisitions by a foreign company in Russia to date. Putin said PepsiCo had pledged to invest about $1 billion in research and development, marketing and modernisation of the Russian firm's production facilities in the next five years. The commission also declined a request by a shareholder in mobile operator Megafon TeliaSonera to transfer its interest in MegaFon to an offshore firm where it can be merged with the stake in Turkish mobile firm Turkcell. (Reuters)