After becoming the 5th largest FDI recipient worldwide in 2008, foreign direct investments in Russia have largely been impacted by the big crisis. To put these changes in context, this paper starts with an overview of foreign investments in Russia from the beginning. Analyzing the source countries, we argue that round-tripping and trans-shipped FDI significantly mask the real sources. In terms of the regional distribution, high concentration is stressed. Reviewing the industrial breakdown of FDI in Russia, we point out that the fuel industry, mainly the oil production, except for 1999, has had a prominent or a leadership role only since 2003. Despite the Russian natural resource base, foreign investors are now motivated mostly by market-related factors. Before the crisis Russian macroeconomic, fiscal and debt policies improved the investment climate, while the growing state control has had a negative effect. Red tape, poor infrastructure, corruption and complex tax system remained major obstacles. Until the early 2000s, government made few steps to encourage foreign investment. Amid and after the crisis it was explicitly acknowledged at the highest level that resource based Russia needs the West, the foreign investments and knowledge for its modernization. The paper finally turns to investments from Hungary. Despite the low share of Russia in outward FDI from Hungary, there are a few significant investments of Hungarian-based investors, worth to be surveyed.

Contributors from Russia, the Ukraine, and Western Europe study how international investors have decided whether and in which sectors to invest in the transitional economies of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Despite its key role, the authors of these nine papers concede that the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on domestic investment, production, and stability is complexly indirect. Tables furnish data on GDP, FDI specifics, and related economic indicators. Based on a report to the European Commission: Foreign Investment in the Former Soviet Union: a Key to Investment Efficiency in the Late Transition Period. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

There is a growing body of literature that deals with outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from Russia and the international activities of Russian multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, despite the significant public attention devoted to Russia, and relatively widespread fears of Russian capital, there is very little academic research on the presence of Russian capital in Central and East Europe. Only a few studies have examined in detail the entire region or even parts of it (Pelto et al., 2004; Weiner, 2006; Chetverikova, 2010; Kalotay et al., 2014). Moreover, only a few CEE country studies have been conducted, including studies on Bulgaria (Zashev, 2005a), Hungary (Weiner, 2011a, 2011b, 2013), Poland (Liuhto, 2002; Runiewicz, 2005), Latvia (Zashev, 2005b) and Lithuania (Zashev, 2004). Although Hungary is among the exceptions, an English-language study has yet to be published. This paper has two main purposes. The first is to review what the various official statistics tell us about Russian FDI in Hungary (Section 2). The other is to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of major Russian FDI projects in Hungary, by analysing company data in meticulous detail (Section 3). In these case studies, we consider the main characteristics of Russian investments in Hungary, including, among other things, (1) the industries targeted by Russian investors; (2) the way in which Russian investors enter the market (greenfield projects, acquisitions or joint ventures); (3) the motivations behind investment decisions; (4) the failure or success of investment projects; (5) the ownership structures of the investing entities (with special attention to potential links to the Russian government); (6) the Russian share in the investment; (7) the role of indirect FDI/trans-shipment (investment through a third country). We investigate whether the top Russian non-financial MNEs are present in Hungary, and whether there are significant FDI projects on the horizon. We only briefly touch on the prevailing Hungarian attitude towards Russian investments.

This title was first published in 2003. Covering a diverse range of countries such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Russia, as well as referring to the characteristics of the region as a whole, this book examines the inflow and outflow of foreign direct investment from both home and host company and country perspectives. By analyzing foreign direct investment in terms of process, content and context, the book provides a holist approach towards direct foreign investment in the transitional context of Central and Eastern Europe, embracing both macro- and micro-economic perspectives of the process.

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, grade: A-, , language: English, abstract: Foreign direct investment constitutes a highly important part of contemporary world economy. Globalization of international economic relations have led to the situation in which many countries face the necessity to compete with each other and, thus, to enhance their competitiveness through attraction of foreign capital. FDI in this respect appears to be the most desirable option for many economies, as they are more stable than other forms of investment. This papers answers the question of why Russia attracted such a small amount of FDI since the beginning of the transition process. This analysis takes into consideration major determinants of FDI inflow to the country as well as factors of their spatial and sectoral distribution within the state.

World Bank Technical Paper No. 332. Uses firm-level data to measure how the largest industrial firms in five Central and Eastern European countries restructured during 1992-94 and makes projections through 2000. Various measures of restructuring are used, including changes in export performance, factor productivity, profitability, and rate of return on capital. The study reveals which reform strategies have been the most effective in firm restructuring. Also available in Russian: Stock No. 13729 (ISBN 0-8213-3729-7).