A law on spinning off RDIF into a separate company has been introduced to the State Duma. According to the head of the fund, the reform of the RDIF, controlled by VEB, will bring its status in line with “best global practices” and make the work “more transparent”

State Duma of the Russian Federation (Photo: Artem Korotaev/TASS)

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), now controlled by Vnesheconombank (VEB), will be transformed into a separate company, the sole shareholder of which will be the state - a draft law developed by the heads of three “economic” committees of the State Duma (on economic policy, on the financial market and on issues property), has already been submitted to parliament.

The explanatory note to the document notes that the adoption of the new law will help develop “instruments of state stimulation of foreign and Russian investments” as a result of the acquisition of the “appropriate status” by the RDIF.

“The experience of foreign countries demonstrates that the generally accepted world practice is the creation of investment funds as independent instruments for the implementation of state investment policy, many of which operate on the basis of individual legislative or government acts,” note the authors of the bill.

The current head of the RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, also positively assessed the bill, explaining that its adoption will bring the RDIF into line with “best global practices.”

“This makes the investment process even more transparent, the process of managing us even more transparent,” Dmitriev explained, assuring that the change in the status of the Fund will not affect existing relations with partners in any way. “All our relationships and partnerships will move to a new structure, and there will be no particular difference for our partners,” Dmitriev emphasized (quotes from RIA Novosti ).

Answering the question about whether changing the status of the RDIF will help lift the sanctions imposed by the West from the fund, Dmitriev noted that he does not expect “special changes in the regime of restrictions.”

Earlier on Monday, Vedomosti, citing its sources , reported that RDIF would be made an independent structure due to the difficult situation at VEB.

“VEB is almost in a pre-bankruptcy state, although the risk is already lower, and RDIF is an efficient company; they should not sink together,” a senior official explained to the publication. He noted that the fund has become a much more successful project than VEB itself. This, he said, is due to built-in protection from lobbyists - the mandatory participation of co-investors interested in profit.

A person close to VEB said that the separation of the fund is one part of a large-scale restructuring of the state-owned company. In addition, as the official says, leaving VEB could help lift sanctions from the fund, which fell under them as a “daughter” of the state corporation. The newspaper's interlocutors did not exclude the possibility that other structures, for example the Export Agency (Eksar), will be removed from VEB.

A bill on separating RDIF from VEB was introduced to the State Duma