Nearly 80% of US Companies Working in Russia Regard Russian Market as Strategic

A vast majority of US firms, operating in Russia, consider the country to be one of its strategic markets, a new research carried out by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Russia revealed.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the survey, 79 percent of US companies qualified Russia as a strategic market, while 69 percent listed it among the Top-10 states representing interest for business. Russia was regarded as a key market by 12 percent of the US companies and 9 percent of respondents considered the Russian market as being of secondary importance.

AmCham President and CEO Alexis Rodzianko, presenting the survey, noted that official statistics of the US investments in Russia did not always correspond to real figures. Accumulated investments in Russia of 59 transnational companies that participated in the survey amounted to $49.7 billion. Meanwhile, the official statistics of the US Department of Commerce shows about $36.8 billion of investment stock.

"Actually, the presence of US companies on Russian market is much higher… The poll revealed that Russia is an important market, but it could be and might become more important as there are opportunities for this," Rodzianko said during the presentation.

American Chamber of Commerce, established in 1994, is one of the leading foreign business organizations in Russia. It has 600 member companies. The main priorities of the organization are to promote commercial relations and assist its members in developing their business in Russia.