Salzburg, Austria, July 8 (RFE/RL) -- Russia's Minister of Economy, Yevgeny Yasin, says he expects foreign investment into Russia to double or triple by the end of next year.
Speaking at the first Central and Eastern European Economic summit in Salzburg today, Yasin said he made the prediction even though Russia's faces, in his words, "extraordinarily difficult" economic problems.
He said that Russia has already done much, especially with tax reforms, to create a favorable environment for direct foreign investment. He also said that his government will uphold its agreements with the International Monetary Fund.
But Yasin said that Russia needs to carry out a tough, short-term program to resolve the budget crisis, attract capital, and stimulate private foreign investment.
Yasin also said that he believes that communism in Russia is buried once and for all. He said the communists lost the election because they wanted to reverse reforms.