Offshore orientation of Russian Federation FDI.

The research note analyses the geographical profile of FDI of the Russian Federation, which is characterized by the prevalence of offshore entities and conduit (transshipment) countries. It puts forward a hypothesis about the traditional motives (tax minimization) and the non-traditional motives (insufficient safeguarding of legal business, poor level of financial market development, high incidence of monopolization) for this phenomenon. The hypothesis is supported by methodological and empirical arguments constructed against the background of trends and practices in the BRICS and developed economies.