In a Moscow Times op-ed today, Liam Halligan, chief economist at Prosperity Capital Management, warns that even with Russia’s recently-approved privatization plan, the country’s investment climate leaves much to be desired:

Russia’s legal system, including its protection of property, remains weak, as illustrated by a case unfolding at our company, Prosperity Capital Management. It involves the nonpayment of hundreds of millions of dollars by an entity controlled by a member of the Federation Council.

Prosperity Capital Management, or PCM, has endured blatant legal abuses in its dealings with TGK-2 — one of the generation companies spun off during the wholesale privatization and restructuring of the country’s power sector after Unified Energy System was broken up in July 2008. The abuses are among the worst since the Yukos affair…