Zuma's state visit and the challenges of doing business in Russia

The document examines the potential for a strategic partnership between South Africa and Russia, noting that while Russia's economic size and global influence make it a vital partner for exports and FDI, South African corporates face significant hurdles. These include a poor 'Doing Business' ranking, widespread corruption, lax intellectual property enforcement, and state dominance in strategic sectors. Despite these challenges, the state visit resulted in cooperation agreements in uranium enrichment, space, technology, and mining.

• The state visit between South Africa and Russia resulted in several cooperation agreements focusing on space, technology, joint mining of resources, and uranium enrichment, with Russia aiming to control 45 percent of the low enrichment uranium market in South Africa.
• Russia's economy is characterized by a heavy dependence on commodities, specifically oil and gas, which constitute approximately 60 percent of its exports and 50 percent of its total revenues.
• South African businesses face a difficult investment climate in Russia, evidenced by a World Bank Doing Business rank of 120 out of 183 countries and a Heritage Foundation economic freedom rank of 41 out of 43 in the Europe region.
• The Russian state maintains an overbearing role in the economy, particularly through the 2008 State Council restrictions that designated 42 sectors as strategic and largely off-limits to foreign entities.
• In response to budget deficits following the global financial crisis, the Russian government announced the sale of state assets in VTB Bank, Russian Railways, and Rosneft to raise US$29bn.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2010). Zuma's state visit and the challenges of doing business in Russia. https://saiia.org.za/research/zumas-state-visit-and-the-challenges-of-doing-business-in-russia/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Zuma's state visit and the challenges of doing business in Russia. 2010. https://saiia.org.za/research/zumas-state-visit-and-the-challenges-of-doing-business-in-russia/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Zuma's state visit and the challenges of doing business in Russia |date=12 August 2010 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/zumas-state-visit-and-the-challenges-of-doing-business-in-russia/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2010zumas, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Zuma's state visit and the challenges of doing business in Russia}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2010}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/zumas-state-visit-and-the-challenges-of-doing-business-in-russia/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }