The world's leading organizer of conferences, EuroMoney, is holding a two-day investment forum in Moscow.
The event features speeches by government officials as well as workshops and panels covering a wide range of economic topics. Topping Tuesday's agenda was a discussion entitled “Return of Risk”, focusing on the investment climate in Russia and the CIS. Following the Russian President’s remarks suggesting Russia may limit international investment into strategic sectors if the U.S. and EU do likewise, Paul Vandoren, Deputy Head of the European Commission to Russia, commented for RT on Russia's access to the unbundling EU energy market. RT: If the U.S. is restricting investment into its strategic sectors and if the EU is doing something similar in that direction, and I am referring to the unbundling initiative of the energy and electricity sector, then why shouldn't Russia do it? Isn’t that a double standard? Paul Vandoren: “The European Union does not discriminate between the investors, the companies of European or foreign origin. If Russia believes that such a draft legislation or regulation leads or directive in the EU affects its businesses, this is a prime example why there should be a dialogue between Russia and the EU. I think that it would be the wrong conclusion to draw from developments of that kind, that in that case we are going to do something similar.”