Authorities, businesses must develop unified approach to returning non-residents while keeping control, technologies with Russian companies - first deputy PM

MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - The possibility of foreign investors returning to the Russian market should not be a taboo, but Russia needs a unified approach to the conditions for such a return, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said at the RSPP congress.

He named the retention of controlling stakes and rights to technologies by Russian companies in assets with foreign capital as examples of such conditions.

"What we need to do preemptively in terms of technological policy is to develop unified approaches to the prospects of Western companies returning to our market. We certainly cannot make such a possibility a taboo. However, we should only open the door to those niches where we agree to share our sovereignty," Manturov said.

"The very principles of attracting foreign investment and localization must change," he said.

"Control in joint ventures should primarily belong to Russian beneficiaries. The same applies to rights to technologies. I believe that in potential negotiations, our businesses should adhere to such positions in particular," he said.

"At the systemic level, businesses maintain financial stability," Manturov said when commenting on the overall situation in industry. "We see and know about individual pockets of tension, and there is already a set of solutions to mitigate such local risks. If the RSPP has additional proposals, we are ready to promptly work on them with relevant agencies and provide support," he said.