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 The Russian state plans to sell off some of its holdings in a number
of assets, including in Bashneft and Alrosa, as well as in VTB bank.
Unlike the first two, VTB is under western sanctions over Moscow's
role in the Ukraine crisis.
"I am sure there will be some good buys," Rogers said in a telephone
interview.
"If they (Bashneft and Alrosa) are not under sanctions, I will take
a look – as I said, I am looking for more investments in Asia and in
Russia but I am an American and I have to be a little bit careful."
Western sanctions imposed in response to Russia's annexation of
Crimea and support for separatists in Ukraine prohibit U.S. and
European Union passport holders from helping certain Russian
companies and individuals to raise funds.
Rogers has been a prominent investor since the 1970s, when he
founded the Quantum Fund in partnership with George Soros.
He already has interests in Russian state airline Aeroflot, the
Moscow Exchange and fertilizer producer PhosAgro. He owns some
exchange traded funds (ETFs) and is investing in Russian treasury
bonds.
"I am looking for more investments in Russia. I am trying to buy
into a Russian tourist company, I am optimistic about Russian
tourism," Rogers said, adding that he was also looking to buy more
stocks of Russian agriculture companies.
SOME ARE BACK, SOME ARE NOT
Rogers started to invest in Russian treasury bonds in April 2015 and
added more rouble bonds to his portfolio in the last few weeks. He
declined to give the size of his current Russian exposure.
"I bought more Russian government bonds about two or three weeks
ago, or a month ago ... short-term. If I got a chance I would
probably buy more," Rogers said, adding that he was only investing
in Russian rouble bonds, not Eurobonds.
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"I want to buy rouble bonds, I am more optimistic about rouble bonds
than I am in Eurobonds. Rouble bonds have much higher yields."
According to ThomsonReuters data, Russian treasury bonds have
delivered annual returns of up to 40 percent last year.
Short-term OFZ bonds with maturity of up to three years are
currently trading at yields of 9.5-9.7 percent, with medium-term
maturity of up to 7 years trading at 9.3-9.5 percent.
"More and more people coming to understand that Russia is a good
place to invest ... Russia is not a huge debt nation, it's not like
Portugal or America," Rogers said.
"The Russian economy is suffering a lot and many people have already
cut back ... but America has not yet had a big drop, Germany did not
have a big drop yet, but when they drop they will drop much more
than Russia because Russia has already dropped."
(Additional reporting by Elena Orekhova; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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