This is in a context that is particularly sensitive that Vladimir Putin has received Thursday a fortnight of big bosses French. Sensitive, because for more than two months, a well-known member of the business community of the French from Moscow, very popular with his peers, Philippe Delpal, is incarcerated. Partner of the investment fund Baring Vostok, the banker and several of his colleagues are accused by a shareholder of the Russian fraud involving about € 34 million. The patron of the fund, the American Michael Calvey, was arrested at the same time as Philippe Delpal, has recently been released, and assigned to residence.
The accused claim their innocence in this case which resembles one of those regulations of financial accounts to which Russia is customary, in which the impartiality of the judicial authorities or the police is questionable.
around the table, Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of Total, a foreign investor is major in Russia, had referred to the “case Delpal” in front of the press just prior to the meeting. “This is not a concern, it is a subject that is part of the framework of improvement of business. To invest, you need to be confident,” he commented. The Russian president has assured his interlocutors that “Russia is doing and will do everything so that foreign investors feel as well as possible”. Patrick Pouyanné, has announced that Total would participate to the tune of 10 % to two projects of construction of terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Murmansk (North) and at Kamchatka (Far East) carried out by the Russian Novatek.
Despite the western sanctions put in place in 2014 after the annexation of the Crimea, France, and 500 companies located in Russia, the leading foreign employer in the country, with 160.000 employees, according to Business France.
