Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska has spoken out in support of Russia in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph in London. The businessman, one-time Russia’s richest man but still one of the 114 billionaires in the resource-rich country, said “What is important to understand is that we (Russia) have a very healthy budget. Almost no deficit – we have public debt to GDP around 12 percent, total debt to GDP of 27 percent, unique numbers. We have more than $580bn (in) reserves.
“If you look at the Russian market we are hungry, for everything,” he said.
In his interview Deripaska segued from new opportunities opened up for British businesses by Russia’s new membership of the World Trade Organisation to Russia’s contribution to classical music.
While saying the Russian commercial court system was “not perfect” he compared it favourably to China and India.
