Russia makes profit investing in domestic stocks
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
MOSCOW, Apr 13 (Reuters): The Russian government made billions of roubles investing its oil savings in domestic blue chip stocks, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told a cabinet meeting Monday.
The government made a decision last year to invest 175 billion roubles from the $85.5 billion National Wealth Fund in the domestic stock market arguing that Russian stocks were significantly undervalued.
"The yield is positive, measured in dozens of per cent," Kudrin said, adding that almost all the money, except for 7 billion roubles, had been invested.
Kudrin earlier said the state would be a "buy and hold" investor.
Russia's stock market has risen almost 50 per cent since the start of the year, staging its strongest quarterly performance since early 2006.
The market plunged about 80 per cent last year, becoming the worst performing market globally for a while, following a series of corporate scandals and a war with Georgia.
The government's bank VEB, chaired personally by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was placing the money on the domestic market. VEB does not disclose its investment strategy or portfolio.
The central bank manages most of Russia's oil wealth, accumulated during the economic boom years and divided into the NWF and a $121 billion Reserve Fund, designated for plugging holes in the federal budget.
The government made a decision last year to invest 175 billion roubles from the $85.5 billion National Wealth Fund in the domestic stock market arguing that Russian stocks were significantly undervalued.
"The yield is positive, measured in dozens of per cent," Kudrin said, adding that almost all the money, except for 7 billion roubles, had been invested.
Kudrin earlier said the state would be a "buy and hold" investor.
Russia's stock market has risen almost 50 per cent since the start of the year, staging its strongest quarterly performance since early 2006.
The market plunged about 80 per cent last year, becoming the worst performing market globally for a while, following a series of corporate scandals and a war with Georgia.
The government's bank VEB, chaired personally by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was placing the money on the domestic market. VEB does not disclose its investment strategy or portfolio.
The central bank manages most of Russia's oil wealth, accumulated during the economic boom years and divided into the NWF and a $121 billion Reserve Fund, designated for plugging holes in the federal budget.