Russia’s economic space: Currencies, oil, investment

An attempt is made to estimate the influence of the currency and oil factors on the volumes and distribution of investment flows to Russian regions. The emphasis is on a correlation analysis of the impact of changes in the values of nominal foreign exchange rates (the US dollar and the Euro) and the world prices of Urals crude oil on the dynamics of Russian and foreign investments in different regions and regional groups of Russia over a ten-year period (1995–2005). Significant intergroup differences in the degree of investment susceptibility to the currency and oil factors are brought to light, resulting from the country’s heterogeneous economic space, its mineral and labor resources, uneven development of its transport infrastructure, the energy spent by local authorities in attracting investments, etc.