MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited British entrepreneurs to take part in implementing the National Projects at a meeting with representatives of the UK business community working in Russia.

"Hundreds of billions of dollars are planned to be invested into developing the most important sectors of the economy and the social sphere within the framework of the National Projects in Russia. I did not make a slip in speaking, what we’re talking about here is namely investments of hundreds of billions of dollars. I am confident your companies could take part in this work also. The market is fairly large," Putin noted.

Carrying out the National Projects will have an across-the-board effect for the country’s strong growth that will open significant doors to business growth, including businesses from the United Kingdom, the president added.

President Putin also mentioned the implementation of major projects such as Nord Stream 2, Sakhalin III, and the creation of the International Financial Center in Moscow. Putin pointed to the fact that the securities of all large Russian companies are traded on the London Stock Exchange, which promotes capital inflows into the Russian Federation.

The president stated that in recent years, relations between Moscow and London "have been and are still not in the best position." "Meanwhile, it prevents those people who are engaged in positive work and, despite all the problems of interstate relations, I must admit that they exist, and it is due to those people, who are working in positive directions, we have a trade turnover between our countries, no matter how strange it may seem, is growing," the president said. According to him, in 2017 the figure increased immediately by 23%, and after stabilization of energy prices in 2018, the volume of mutual trade increased by another 8%, reaching $ 13.7 billion.

President Putin assured that the Russian administration are doing everything to ensure that foreign companies feel as comfortable as possible and do not experience any excessive administrative burden. Illustrating the effectiveness of this work, the president said that Russia has moved up to the 31st place in the World Bank rating, having risen to several dozen positions over the past five years. In addition, the efforts of the government can maintain the stability of the main macroeconomic indicators. In particular, the GDP in 2018 added 2.3%, while the growth of industrial production was 3%.

Russian investments into Britain’s economy

Putin highlighted the mutual figures noting that British investment into the Russian economy is 23.8%, while Russian investors have poured over $11 billion into the UK’s economy.

"The accumulated British investments into the Russian economy now amount to 23.8%, and Russian investments into the UK’s economy exceed $11 billion," said the president, pointing out that there are over 600 enterprises working in Russia, with British participation, including in such areas as engineering, pharmaceuticals, fuel and energy, production and transportation of electricity and other innovative fields.

The Russian leader took the opportunity and invited representatives of the UK business community to take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will be held on June 6-8.