MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - Russian investment abroad last year exceeded foreign investment in Russia by $2.583 billion.
Russian companies invested $16.841 billion abroad in 2001, while foreign investment in the country totaled $14.258 billion, the State Statistics Committee reported on Wednesday. In 2000, when the figures were respectively
$15.154 billion and $10.958 billion, the difference was even greater, with Russian investment abroad topping foreign investment in Russia by $4.196 billion.
However, Russian investment abroad is largely short-term (and often speculative) and is usually withdrawn within a month. As a result, the stock
of Russian investment abroad was only $3.364 billion as of January 1, 2002, while the stock of foreign investment in Russia was $35.624 billion. This means that the bulk of Russian investment abroad has already returned to the
country, while foreign investment remains in Russia.