Eyebrows were justifiably raised at the beginning of this week by claims from Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin in a Wall Street Journal interview that investors should not be deterred by negative reports about the risky, if not downright dangerous business climate in Russia. These reports stem from, amongst others, Hermitage Capital founder Bill Browder, whom Sechin improbably described as a ‘happy man’, despite his vociferous campaigning to expose the dangers of the Russian arena, after his personal foray ended with his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, being ‘tortured to death’.  Browder responds to Sechin’s remarks in today’s Wall Street Journal:

Given the scale of corruption in Russia and the growing list of investor horror stories, I understand why Mr. Sechin is eager to redeem Russia’s image in the eyes of the world. He joins the efforts of his colleague, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who arranged last month for a small panel of high-profile western CEOs at Davos to offer soothing words about the security of their investments in Russia.