When the oil price ticked towards $150 a barrel last summer the Kremlin was in no rush to put out the welcome mat for foreign or even domestic investors. It was too busy counting its petrodollars.


But the past year has forced a rethink. The oil price crashed, the Kremlin burnt through one third of its foreign currency reserves defending the rouble, and the Russian economy got hammered. Today, grand plans to overhaul the country's decaying Soviet infrastructure are in disarray. Building sites stand idle, Communist-era towns and cities built around single industries are dying, and a giant consumer boom has fizzled. Even as the Russian economy shows real signs of revival, the Kremlin has been forced to reach an unavoidable conclusion: it badly needs foreign expertise and money.