| Founded | 1995 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Suite 300, 545Fifth Avenue, New York City ,United States |
Key people | Patricia Cloherty (chairman) James Cook (Managing Partner)[1] |
The U.S. Russia Investment Fund (TUSRIF) was an investment fund from 1995 to 2008. It was established by the United States government to make private investments in the Russian economy. By 2005, it had invested $300 million in 44 Russian companies. James Cook, Managing Director, founded and developed two of the leading companies DeltaBank, the first bank to sell credit cards in Russia, and DeltaCredit, the first bank to sell residential mortgages in Russia. TUSRIF was replaced by theU.S. Russia Foundation (USRF) in 2008, while its financial arm, Delta Private Equity Partners, was purchased byDeutsche Bank in 2009.
The U.S. Russia Investment Fund was established by theUnited States federal government in 1995.[2] It was the result of the merger of two funds established in 1993-1994: the $340-million Russian American Enterprise Fund (RAEF) and the $100-million Fund for Large Enterprises (FLEER).[2][3] Most of the money came from theUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID).[4] The fund was managed by Delta Capital Management,[5] and its chairman and chief executive officer wasPatricia Cloherty.[6]
Its main goal was to promote investments in Russia.[2] It specialized in "early venture, mid venture, and growth capital investments in middle market companies", with a focus on the "media, retail, consumer goods, financial services, information technology, and telecommunication sectors".[7] TUSRIF andKohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company owned 51% of theImperial Porcelain Factory until 1999, when it was nationalized by theGovernment of Russia.[8]
In 2000, it established DeltaBank, the first bank to sellVisa credit cards in Russia.[6][9] In October 2000, it became a majority shareholder of theEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development.[4] Meanwhile, they acquiredJPMorgan Chase's banking license in 2000 and established DeltaCredit, the first bank to sell residential mortgages in Russia, in 2001.[6][9]
The same year, it established the Delta Russian Fund, whose aim was to attract $150 million in venture capital from investors to reinvest in the Russian economy.[4] It also invested inRunet, the Russian internet.[10] The following year, in 2002, it invested $1 million inEgar Technology, a financial trading company,[11] while theInternational Finance Corporation invested $1.5 million.[12] In 2004,GE purchased the TUSRIF-managed DeltaBank for $150 million.[13][14]
By 2005, TUSRIF had invested $300 million in 44 Russian companies, including the aforementioned DeltaBank and DeltaCredit as well as two television networks.[6] However, DeltaCredit was acquired by theSociété Générale for $100 million that year.[15] Meanwhile, TUSRIF also invested in small businesses, for example inNizhny Novgorod.[16]
TUSRIF was replaced by theU.S. Russia Foundation (USRF) in 2008.[2] Meanwhile, Delta Capital Management, which became Delta Private Equity Partners, was purchased by UFG Private Equity, a subsidiary ofDeutsche Bank, in 2009.[17] Three years later, in 2011, the disposal of $150 million from the fund was tabled by theUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID) and theUnited States Congress, on the recommendation from the Obama administration that half should go to theUnited States Department of the Treasury and half to support American values in Russia.[18] By 2012, the Obama administration asked Congress to allocate only $50 million to support human rights non-profit organizations in Russia.[19]
"We've estimated that it's a multitrillion-dollar market," says TUSRIF Senior Vice President James Cook.
Delta Capital is among Port.ru's backers. It also administers the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund, which is based in New York and was established by Congress in 1994 with $440 million of grant money for Russian ventures.
Statement of Patricia Cloherty, Chairman and CEO, The U.S-Russia Investment Fund, and Chairman and CEO, Delta Private Equity Partners, New York and Moscow
Mr. Vasiliev's decision to leave was clinched by a St. Petersburg court's decision on Monday to renationalize the Lomonosov porcelain factory, a move that annulled a 51 percent stake held in the company by executives of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company and the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund.
The mortgage bank, DeltaCredit, became the top mortgage bank in Russia; in 2005, the French Société Générale acquired it for $100 million.
The expansion of small businesses in Nizhny Novgorod and other cities across Russia is due in large part to two large foreign investors -- the EBRD and the U.S.-government financed U.S.-Russia Investment Fund.
