The Conference participants in their reports have touched upon many issues related to the leasing activities, they described some specific features, the present conditions and perspectives for this form of the investment process by taking into consideration different aspects, including the sector problems.

To your attention I would like to present a report that will deal with the issues associated with the stimulation of investment activities in the agroindustrial sector (agribusiness) of Russia.

But prior going into details of the vehicles that are used by the International Agroindustrial Fund (Interagrofund) to attract investments, I think it will be expedient to brief you on the present situation on the investment market of Russia, and in particular in the agroindustrial sector.

There is no secret that investments are the key factors that provide growth for the national economy of any country. The issues of stimulating investment activities in order to develop the real sector of the national economy are of the major concern at the state level in the developed countries. This is also connected with the fact, that if investment activities in any country are reduced below the threshold value, it is regarded as a serious threat to the national security.

The main problem hampering the growth of production and investments is that during the period of reforming the national economy its reproduction profile was actually destroyed, e.g. the potential of the economic system in the course of its development to form internal resources for the accumulation and the opportunities for investing in the real sector of the economy have been reduced.

The unfavorable investment environment in Russia for the last years, exports of the domestic capital abroad and high risks for operation in the country have resulted in steady diminishing of a rate of capitalization in the real sector of resources saved by the economy. If in the early 90-s for the purposes of investing to the fixed capital

more than 90 % of all resources of the national savings were used, then from the year 1995 this share has decreased to 70 %. Compared to the similar parameters of the advanced countries this index is considered as extremely low for the national economy.

This rate of investment activities and a constant lack of finances to the real sector of the economy have resulted in the accumulation of a substantial amount of obsolete outdated assets, devaluated by the crisis, diminishing of reproduction parameters for the fixed capital and production capacities, their intensive wear, and therefore lower competitiveness of production.

Analyzing the statistical data we can draw the conclusion that today more than 70 % of all machines and equipment are operating in the industry for more than 10 years.

The share of a new, relatively update equipment, with the service life up to 5 years, that actually determines the technological level (and the competitiveness) of the domestic production has diminished from 29 % in 1990, to 5 % in 2000.

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