Medvedev launches 'new' Russia, haven for change and investment
Russian President announces that his government will scrap Capital Gains Tax from 2011
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has promised the that a "changing" Russia is serious about economic reform, and stressed that the country needs a boom in foreign investment to modernise its economy.
"We are truly modernising Russia," Medvedev, told business leaders in a keynote speech at the annual economic forum in its second city of Saint Petersburg.
"The changes take time but it will happen," he said, adding that "Russia understands the tasks ahead and is changing for itself and for the rest of the world."
Medvedev - who took over the Kremlin from his predecessor Vladimir Putin in 2008 - has made modernisation a mantra of his presidency but has been criticised by economists for failing to follow rhetoric with actions.
In a surprise announcement warmly welcomed by the audience, Medvedev said that from 2011 Russia would abolish capital gains tax for long-term direct investment.
"Russia must become a country which attracts people from around the world to realise their dreams," he said.
He also promised more relaxed visa policies for qualified foreign businessmen working in Russia and a strengthening of the legal basis for business in a country still blighted by corruption.
Medvedev said that Russia was emerging from the economic crisis with decent economic growth of around four percent in the first five months of 2010.
He also emphasized that the oil- and gas-rich country was being spared the budget crises currently besetting some European Union states, even if Russia had to tighten its belt.
"We have no problem with our sovereign debt. It is minimal," he said.