Roger Gale told a conference on freight in the former Soviet Union on Tuesday that he had expected business to fall off after last October's violent showdown between President Boris Yeltsin and the Soviet-era parliament.


But the number of foreign visitors coming to talk to the IFC, the World Bank's private-sector affiliate, in Moscow had remained steady, and the projects they were discussing were better prepared, he said.


"I have every expectation that there are going to be a considerable host of new joint ventures coming up in the near future," he said.


The increase would be from a very small level, he said. The IFC, which accounts for much of the foreign lending and investment in Russia, has so far itself invested just under $100 million in the country, including two oil projects, a bank and an investment fund.


The reason for the increase at this point is that many projects have been in the pipeline for some time and are only now coming to fruition.


Only "cataclysmic" developments would prevent them going ahead, he said.


In addition, the privatization over the past year of thousands of enterprises has provided more potential partners in a range of industries for Western investors, who in the past had focused on the oil and gas and other commodity sectors.


Most of the deals which would be announced in the next few months would be in infrastructure, in areas such as ports, airlines and telecommunications, he said.


"The former Soviet Union in terms of investment is not for the faint-hearted at the moment," he said.


"But those companies that come and stay will reap the rewards in the future."