tment. Market mechanisms of capital overflow, which are virtually absent in Russia are in these cases prove themselves to be ineffective. The paradox is that the country needs large investments to upgrade but now is not able to accept and apply them in best possible way. In contrast to the recent past, when there has been a lack of financial resources, currently are growing risks of inefficient and insecure investments, pushed by the pressure of liquidity including the influx of petrodollars. At the same time, Russia today possesses basically just "short" money. "Long" money needed for large-scale long-term projects, including infrastructure, are not yet available and the national institutes of savings such as pension funds, insurance companies, etc. are just being formed. Capital formation in them will take at least ten years. It takes time for the development of financial intermediaries and to inculcate the culture of massive medium-sized investments to the public. The lack of a "long" money makes the large-scale foreign investment an appropriate involvement in the modernization of industry therefore providing them with a competitive investment climate. An increase in the use of these resources, including the capital itself, as happened in the past, will not provide the rapid growth and competitiveness. The main competitive advantages of the Russian economy are, in addition to natural resources and sufficiently educated and skilled labor force, the accumulated scientific and technical capacity, transport capacity, transit capacity, relatively large domestic market. However, the existing competitive advantage has not only failed to develop, but also degraded as a direct consequence of the destruction of the old economic system and the incomplete transition to a new one. And yet expert assessments of Russian competitiveness are overly pessimistic, and reflect to a large degree only personal views of experts. The country has a set of economic, social and political factors, reflecting the accumulated competitive potential, its material and intellectual wealth, and therefore Russia should define a strategy for enhancing competitiveness and to develop a mechanism for its implementation. In order to improve the competitiveness Russia should move to a new economic policy, a new economic program of modernization of the economy the core of which would be an innovative strategy and computerization. It is also important to reduce production costs, improve product quality, increase investment in high-tech sector of the economy and in science. Moreover, the competitiveness ranking is a not only an economic problem but also a branding one. Russia needs to develop its own strategy for inclusion in the global economic system that would cover a range of macroeconomic stabilization and structural adjustment. It is necessary to maximize the global experience of economic reforms aimed at creating an effective competitive economies which would be ...
