Investors are buying up stocks with any connection to Russia due to warming relations with the U.S. – Bloomberg

Global investors are eagerly buying up stocks linked to Russia as relations with the U.S. show signs of warming and rumors circulate that Russian financial markets may reopen in the coming weeks.

According to Bloomberg, U.S. securities lawyer Grigory Marinichev reports that clients worldwide are asking how to trade on Russian markets.

However, due to existing sanctions, this remains impossible through U.S. financial channels.

As a result, many investors are turning to the Hong Kong market, rapidly purchasing shares of United Co. Rusal International PJSC, Russia’s aluminum giant. In February alone, its stock price surged by approximately 75%.

In Vienna, shares of Raiffeisen Bank International AG, an Austrian bank with a major subsidiary in Moscow, have risen 35% this year. In Budapest, shares of OTP Bank Nyrt, which operates in Russia, have increased by 11%.

A similar trend is visible in currency markets. Kazakhstan, a key Russian trading partner, has seen its currency, the tenge, strengthen by about 4% this month—one of the highest gains among global currencies.

According to Marinichev, hedge funds, family offices, and private investors are primarily driving the rush to profit from Russian assets.