Russia's notorious case against former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev is not the only reason for the country's souring investment climate, the head of AFK Sistema, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, said on Wednesday.
"Investment climate probably depends on some political reasons, but I do not think that we should exaggerate any problem that occurs and treat it with regard to Khodorkovsky's case," Yevtushenkov, who heads Russia's largest public diversified financial corporation, said during the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.
On New Year's Eve, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were sentenced to 14 years in jail after being found guilty of stealing millions of tons of oil from their now defunct company Yukos in a trial broadly viewed as political revenge from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Yevtushenkov also said the Russian business environment left much to be desired as foreign partners try to minimize their risks and not to make long-term investments in Russia.
Among the problems hampering foreign investment in the country are bureaucracy, corruption, lack of experienced business specialists and demographic factors, Yevtushenkov said, adding that Russia however "is not much worse than Brazil or India."
DAVOS (Switzerland), January 26 (RIA Novosti)