Russian Multinationals' Foreign Assets up 4 Times in 3 Years

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Russian Multinationals' Foreign Assets up 4 Times in 3 Years

RUSSIAN MULTINATIONALS’ FOREIGN ASSETS UP FOUR TIMES IN THREE YEARS

Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment and SKOLKOVO Release 2008 Ranking of Russian Multinational Enterprises

November 13, 2008 (NEW YORK and MOSCOW) – The Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment and the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO released the SKOLKOVO-2008 Ranking of Russian multinational enterprises (MNEs) today. The ranking, which updates the 2007 VCC-SKOLKOVO ranking of Russian MNEs, reveals a continuing global expansion of Russian firms and provides a starting point for future evaluations of the expansion trend in the context of the current economic downturn.

According to the findings, Russia’s top 25 MNEs – ranked by foreign assets – had at the end of 2007, U.S. $90 billion assets abroad (table 1) and about U.S. $220 billion in foreign sales (including exports) and employed nearly 140,000 people in other countries. Foreign assets have increased four times since 2004, and employment abroad has tripled. Over half of foreign assets are concentrated in Europe. Three oil/gas firms – Lukoil, Gazprom, TNK-BP – and nine metals and mining firms, led by Norilsk Nickel, together account for 80 percent of the total foreign assets of the top 25.

Compared with the previous year’s list, the aggregate foreign assets of the top 25 rose by over 50 percent and the “entry ticket” jumped up to $200 million. While several of the companies were restructured in various ways, the only real newcomers on the list are the Industrial Metallurgical Holding, the real estate developer Mirax Group, and the gaming group Ritzio Entertainment.

“The top 25 companies on our list have increased their aggregate foreign assets rapidly, sustaining yearly growth rates of over 50 percent for several years now, and the preliminary data for this year indicates that the rate for 2008 is likely to be similar,” noted Alexander Mansilya-Kruz, the researcher responsible for the ranking at SKOLKOVO. “However, now that the economic environment has changed dramatically both globally and at home, these companies will have to deal with new challenges.”

The SKOLKOVO ranking is part of a global effort to rank multinationals from fast-growth economies, coordinated by the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment in New York. Ranking lists for Brazil, Russia, Slovenia, Israel and China were published recently and more are to be released soon.

The full report is available online at www.skolkovo.ru and www.vcc.columbia.edu.

The SKOLKOVO 2008 Ranking of Russian Multinational Enterprises was conducted in the framework of the Emerging Markets Global Players Project, a collaborative effort coordinated by the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment. It brings together researchers on foreign direct investment (FDI) from leading institutions in emerging markets to generate annual ranking lists of emerging market multinational enterprises.

The Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO is a joint project by major Russian and international business leaders. SKOLKOVO is a dynamically developing international business school with a vision based on a unique mix of three dimensions: entrepreneurial leadership, emerging markets and experiential learning.

Being realized in partnership with the government of the Russian Federation, SKOLKOVO is a part of the national priority projects program, funded exclusively by private business. Dmitry Medvedev, the President of the Russian Federation is the Chairman of the SKOLKOVO International Advisory Board.

Since 2006, SKOLKOVO has held short term executive education programs for senior executives and middle managers. Full-time MBA and Executive MBA will begin in 2009, admission for both programs starts in autumn 2008.

The Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC), led by Dr. Karl P. Sauvant, is a joint center of Columbia Law School and The Earth Institute at Columbia University. It seeks to be a leader on issues related to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the global economy. VCC focuses on the analysis and teaching of the implications of FDI for public policy and international investment law.

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, and criminal law.

For further information please contact:

Alexander Mansilya-Kruz

SKOLKOVO Research Center

[email protected]

+7 903 777 14 04

Elena Morenko

SKOLKOVO Press Office

[email protected]

+7 903 777 09 30

Ekaterina Dorofeeva, Natalia Neverskaya, Daria Isaeva
Maslov PR, SKOLKOVO Press Office

[email protected]

+7 495 981 06 09

Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment