NOT AFTER ALLOWING FOR CORRUPTION

Implications:  This article is an excellent example of false and misleading advertising! It was most likely written by someone employed by the Russian economic initiative.

It is not only misleading but makes up for its lack of substance by also being poorly written. If the writer and/or editor had more than two years of English lessons between them, I would be surprised.

Its basic premise in the title makes no allowance for what most of us who have dipped their toes in the Russian real estate development sector, have known for a long time. The entire system is corrupt! To make matters worse, after wading through the considerable difficulties of dealing with corrupt and incompetent government officials, one then finds that there is an even more costly and dangerous layer of bribery and uncertainty to deal with in the form of the "Russian Mafia". This criminal element makes almost any other type of development problem appear as a mere "road bump". It can only be ignored by risking death or destruction.

Analysis: While the article, in the final paragraph, does acknowledge the fact that Russia ranks first of the 27 European cities studied in terms of investment risks, it makes no mention of the level of criminal activity that permeates every level of development activity. 

This lack of recognition is certainly not due to the fact that it is well hidden. In actuality it operates in the open to such an extent that friends of mine who have visited Moscow on official trade missions at the invitation of the Russian government, have reported to me that on the last day of their official visit, the government officials allowed time for a meeting with representatives of the local Mafia who briefed them on the proscribed schedule of required bribes and payoffs! 

If any readers of these GLG News articles really wants to invest in the Russian real estate market, I strongly suggest you limit your investments to properties that are fully developed and can be carefully inspected as to their rent roles and P & Ls. You will pay more but you will be able to sleep at night and save your liaison people the fear of bodily harm when trying to complete unfinished buildings.