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Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in December 2022. (Photo by Dmitry Astakhov / Sputnik / AFP)
- Russian has announced it will make inward investment easier for citizens and companies from a list of 25 countries it considers friendly.
- The list does not include South Africa.
- Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said those from the friendly countries would be able to open Russian bank accounts and move money into those accounts more easily.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday that Russia would create a simplified procedure for citizens and companies from “friendly” countries to invest there.
Mishustin said entities from a list of 25 countries would be allowed to open bank accounts in Russia and make deposits via a simplified procedure.
The list does not include South Africa.
“Creating more convenient conditions for foreign enterprises and entrepreneurs is an important part of the government’s systemic efforts to achieve financial sovereignty as part of the implementation of the national goals set by our president,” Mishustin said in a statement.
Moscow defines “unfriendly” countries as those that have joined a barrage of Western-led economic sanctions in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He said the procedure would apply to Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, China, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, UAE, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
South Africa has consistently pushed back against pressure from Nato countries to join in everything from sanctions to votes in the United Nations to express displeasure at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. American lawmakers have suggested South Africa should lose privileged access to US markets, and European countries have pointed to a range of potential consequences for continuing close ties with Russia.
But the South African government has maintained that it is neutral rather than a supporter of Russia.
“We do not accept that our non-aligned position favours Russia above other countries,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa in May. “Nor do we accept that it should imperil our relations with other countries.”
SA would resist calls, “from whatever quarter”, to abandon its non-aligned foreign policy, said Ramaphosa at the time.
– Additional reporting by News24
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