"The necessary legal base has been established, and we hope to begin investing in the next few weeks," Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said at a business forum of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.
The Stabilization Fund, established in 2004 to accumulate windfall profits from high oil prices and hold back inflation by sterilizing the influx of petrodollars, is viewed as a tool to ensure macroeconomic stability, create conditions for the launch of structural reforms, reduce economic dependence on foreign markets and diversify the country's economy.
It was earlier announced that Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov had given instructions for a bill to be submitted amending current legislation so Stabilization Fund proceeds could be invested in foreign securities. Through the bill, money from the fund would be invested in highly reliable state securities of foreign countries at the first stage, and later in foreign businesses.
In March, the government approved a financial plan for 2006-2008 which predicted that the Stabilization Fund would reach 2.1 trillion rubles ($75 billion) in early 2007, and 3.1 trillion rubles ($110 billion) in early 2008.
