Former Soviet Republics, Central & East Europe hold much promise for international investors. Attracting portfolio money, strategic investment and venture capital that turns potential into reality requires capable local partners to co-invest with and manage investments, and a transparent infrastructure.
While local managers of privatization investment funds in the Former Soviet Union have an understanding of the investment process, they require new skills to increase their effectiveness as asset managers, support to build an investment infrastructure and the creation of investor-friendly legislation.
IVI advised the Government of Kazakhstan in a USAID funded privatization project with a total budget of $5MM and a staff of sixty. IVI managed a team of Kazaks and expatriates to upgrade the skills of Kazak and Russian fund managers as the country adopted market reforms.
Solutions implemented by the IVI team include:
- Advised Kazak investment fund managers in the purchase, corporate governance and restructuring of privatized joint stock companies in the agricultural and building construction sectors
- Organized workshops on the creation of joint ventures between the portfolio companies of Kazakhstani funds and foreign corporations operating in Kazakhstan including Siemens, Lucas Industries, ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd., Coca-Cola, ED&F Man Sugar, Fintraco Construction and Landmaschinen
- Authored regulation #1290 and its passage through the Kazakhstani Parliament; legislation governing investment fund activities, corporate governance of investee companies and disclosure requirements to improve transparency
- Established a trade association of fund managers to be the coordinated voice representing industry interests to the Government of Kazakhstan, the press and the public
- Developed a financial software program so foreign investors could transparently analyze the balance sheet, P&L and cash flow statements of Kazakhstani companies from Russian accounting to IFRS/GAAP accounting. Implemented changes for calculating net asset value of portfolio companies and managed the fund shareholder information project, a task that corrected massive errors in shareholder lists.
“Consider Innovative Ventures as your investment advisor and partner in planning and executing international private equity schemes. We can help you avoid the learning curve costs that skilled investors inadvertently incur when executing new investment programs.”