HONG KONG, April 17: Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday he saw Hong Kong as a model for Moscow, as business chiefs travelling with him signalled a rise in Russian listings in the Chinese financial hub.

Medvedev led a business delegation to the former British colony as he seeks to diversify Russia's economy beyond oil and gas and entice more foreign capital into what he has called a “very bad” domestic investment climate.

“Hong Kong's experience is extremely indicative for us,” Medvedev, the first Kremlin chief to visit Hong Kong, told the territory's Chief Executive Donald Tsang in talks on Sunday.

“We must lift excessive administrative barriers — Hong Kong's experience in this aspect could be used in our country... (and) could also help to establish a global financial centre in Moscow.” Tsang described the the first two listings of Russian firms on Hong Kong's stock exchange — United Company RUSAL, the world's top aluminium producer, and IRC, an iron ore subsidiary of miner Petropavlovsk, both floated on the bourse last year — as a “breakthrough”.

Yuri Soloviev, president of VTB Capital, the investment banking arm of Russian state bank VTB, said Russian firms were planning to list “billions of dollars (in stocks) this year” on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

“This is one of the most liquid markets globally, and therefore the companies we are representing here will be sufficiently capitalised (as a result of listing),” he told reporters on the sidelines of Medvedev's visit.

He did not name specific companies but said that energy, commodity, transportation and consumer firms were eyeing Hong Kong listings.—AFP