Russia’s WTO Entry Spells Opportunity for Overseas Investors

"The Russian government and the corresponding institutions have also been working hard to make it easier for foreign investors to access the domestic fixed income markets. The plan right now is that in 2014 they would also allow foreigners to directly access the local equity markets," Milev said.

Although he has been investing in Russian bonds–sovereigns as well as local currency government debt, with the latter still yielding high returns going into 2013–being able to directly access domestic securities "is a big deal for foreign investors, and is a key tenet of a free and liberalized market economy that goes far beyond the rhetoric," Milev said.

Milev also points to measures the authorities have taken to ensure that the Russian central bank becomea more of an inflation-targeting institution, in the same vein as its developed market peers. That would constitute a huge change and from an investor point of view can only be positive, he said.

But like many others, Milev is also cautious about Russia. Not only for its poor track record on governance, transparency and the rule of law, but also because the country is still heavily dependent on oil revenues and little effort has been made to encourage diversification into other industries. If this doesn't change, then sustaining its advantages will become very difficult for Russia going forward, Milev says.

While some figures estimate that GDP growth in Russia will increase significantly as a result of its WTO membership, the future of the economy is contingent upon long-lasting change in many areas, de Kort said. "This is just the first step for Russia, and it's a big one," he says, "but the country has many major changes to make to really convince international investors of its merits."