Kazakhstan turned out to be the most attractive destination for mutual foreign investment among the CIS countries in the first half of 2022, accumulating 24.3% of all foreign direct investment (FDI) imports. It is followed by Uzbekistan with a share of 20.1% and Belarus with 12.6%. The differences in the structure compared to 2016 are striking: the share of Ukraine was 12% of all mutual FDI over this period of time, but now its share has decreased to only 4%, according to Bizmedia.kz.
Eurasian Development Bank analysts noted that by mid-2022, the level of accumulated mutual FDI in the CIS and Georgia amounted to $44.6 billion.
Kazakhstan attracted the most FDI - $10.8 billion, followed by Uzbekistan (20.1%) and Belarus (12.6%). The share of Ukraine decreased three times compared to 2016 (from 12% to 4%), kazakhstani portal Kursiv reports.
Uzbekistan showed the greatest upward movement (from 11.7% to 20.1%) against the backdrop of improvements in the investment climate in the country, the Kazakh portal Kursiv reports.
The five largest FDI destinations in the CIS are associated with Russian investment in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Kazakhstani FDI in Russia and Azerbaijani FDI in Georgia and Ukraine are also significant investment destinations.
Russian FDI accounted for 79.2% of CIS mutual investments.
On the second and third places - Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Their share is 9.5% and 8.4% respectively.
Kazakhstan accounted for 30% of Russian FDI in the CIS as of mid-2022. In addition to Kazakhstan, Russian investors are actively increasing capital investments in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
Over the past six years, Russian FDI in Uzbekistan has increased by 2.1 times, in Azerbaijan - by 1.7 times.
According to the EDB, the period of growth of mutual FDI in the CIS fell on 2008-2012, when the accumulated volume of these investments increased from $35.8 billion to $54.8 billion.
The second significant period of growth in mutual FDI was in 2016-2020 - from $36.4 billion to $44.9 billion.
By the end of 2021, the level of accumulated investments decreased to $44.3 billion. The accumulated volume of mutual FDI in the EAEU amounted to $24.5 billion. The sectoral structure of mutual investments in the EAEU and the CIS is different. Oil and natural gas production accounts for 24% of FDI stock in the CIS. In the EAEU, this industry occupies only the fourth place, while the first is the extraction of metal ores (19.5% in the structure of mutual FDI in the EAEU).
EDB analysts noted that information for the first half of 2022 is preliminary, as the base of existing projects is shrinking due to the withdrawal of Russian investors from a number of countries in the region. The researchers explained that the EDB data collection methodology takes into account investments through offshore companies, which distinguishes the study from the statistics of national departments and international organizations. The database is formed on the basis of the "bottom-up" principle on the basis of comprehensive information from open sources.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 20, 2022