CIS Fund A Test Of Risk Appetite

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced that it will invest a total of US$100mn in the Macquarie Renaissance Infrastructure Fund (MRIF), which will invest solely in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region. The EBRD follows other multilaterals and state-backed institutions (notably Russia's state-owned development bank Vnesheconombank and Kazakhstan's Kazyna Capital Management, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan's state-owned development fund) in providing seed money for the fund. The MRIF was set up in 2008 by Australian banking group Macquarie and Russia's Renaissance Capital, with the aim of raising US$1-1.5bn for investment in the CIS, a region hit hard by the credit crisis and the subsequent contraction in private sector investments. At least 50% of the total capital will be invested in Russia and up to 25% will be invested in other CIS countries, with a strong focus in Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and with the lion's share of investments going to transport projects.

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