The existing anti-Russian sanctions will not discourage the EU business from working on the Russian market and it will find new formats to invest in the Russian economy, Alexander Ivlev, the CIS managing partner at the EY assurance, tax and consulting services provider, told Sputnik in an interview released on Friday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2018) The existing anti-Russian sanctions will not discourage the EU business from working on the Russian market and it will find new formats to invest in the Russian economy, Alexander Ivlev, the CIS managing partner at the EY assurance, tax and consulting services provider, told Sputnik in an interview released on Friday.
"Europe is a major investor in the Russian economy. The Europeans will be examining these possibilities, they are interested in it, they will be supporting investment projects in the Far East. There are, of course, restrictions relating to sanctions, but trust me, it will not be a major obstacle to the EU companies' doing business in Russia," Ivlev said within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
He acknowledged that the sanctions did have negative impact on the companies' investment activity, but expressed confidence that the EU partners would elaborate new formats for further cooperation.
"Europe is Russia's major strategic trade partner today. However, when their colleagues from the United States impose sanctions, they cannot say for sure how to get out of this situation and work with Russia ... However ... almost all [EU companies] have not closed their business in Russia and continue to work with hope that the market would be steady and the relations between Russia and Europe would be restored to some extend," Ivlev indicated.
Ivlev went to speak about the US-Chinese trade wars and the mutual exchange of increased tariffs on imports from the two countries, saying that it opened new economic and trade opportunities for Russia.
"The development of import substitution [in Russia] gives an opportunity to manufacture export-oriented production, which will be in demand on the Chinese market. For [Russia] it is a unique opportunity," Ivlev said commenting on the Chinese-US trade disagreements.
He added that Russia could also offer to China the infrastructure that would enable the deliveries of the Chinese goods to Europe.
In 2014, relations between Russia and the West deteriorated over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict and Crimea's reunification with Russia following a referendum. The United States and the European Union imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia's energy, banking, defense and other sectors, as well as on a number of Russian officials. Moscow responded with countermeasures against the Western nations that targeted it with sanctions.
The fourth EEF was held between Tuesday and Thursday on Russky Island in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok. Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency was the general information partner of the forum.
