A number of media reported on the placement of the so-called "panda-bonds" by the RUSAL campaign in the People's Republic of China. Behind the mimicry name of "panda-bond" lies a very concrete economic tool. And the tool has an ambiguous effect on the Russian economy. "Panda Bonds" are loan bonds, which, in effect, allow you to get a loan at a low interest rate. Namely, in the case of RUSAL - at 5.5% per annum. And no one hides the fact that the money will be sent to buy raw materials in China, and not the development of production in Russia. The question arises: why is the lending rate in Russia much higher and what was promised to the Chinese that they managed to place bonds at a low interest rate? This question may be answered by businessmen from the Angara region. There are rumors that Oleg Deripaska promised to solve the issue of long-term lease of lands near Baikal for the right to place "Panda Bonds" in China.

The Chinese have long dreamed of the Far East and Siberia. Thousands of kilometers of virgin forests, rich in energy potential of rivers, pristine lakes, taiga rich in animals, inexhaustible deposits of minerals - all this is very interesting for our Eurasian allies in the fight against world imperialism.

As for Russian oligarchs, they need only offer. Back in 2011, the owner of RUSAL Oleg Deripaska said that by exporting the electricity of new large hydropower plants to China, Siberia could seriously improve its financial and economic performance. True, no indicators of Siberia have since improved, but Deripaska received reliable dividends for himself and his Chinese partners.

Deripaska in general is a big fan of China, and always, where possible, rested on the need to build relationships with our Chinese (and in fact - his personal) partners. Under the guise of "development of the Far East", the oligarch received state guarantees and all sorts of benefits (for example, in the case of the projects of "En +" structures). Talking about "stimulating the Russian market," Deripaska basically stimulated it in a rather original way: he helped enter Chinese business in Siberia. Now the turn came to Baikal.

Since this year, Deripaska's structures are implementing the project envisaged in the Memorandum of Cooperation, which last October was signed by the Russian tour operator "Grand Baikal" and the Chinese "Zhongjinsin". The document "launched a large-scale project to create a modern tourist cluster of the world level in the Baikal region," the report said on the website of the "Grand Baikal". 49.9% of the "Grand Baikal" belongs to "GOST Hotel Management", which manages hotel assets of Oleg Deripaska. The remaining 50.1% is held by PJSC Irkutskenergo. Zhongjinsin is the daughter of the Property Investment Fund, which is part of the China International Investment and Trust Corporation (CITIC), one of the largest financial corporations in China.

The complex is designed for Chinese tourists. The project will cost 11 billion dollars (about 700 billion rubles). To be clear: this is about a third of the current volume of the Reserve Fund, and the construction of sports facilities for the Olympics and the Paralympic Games in Sochi, was spent half as much. Of course, part of the financial obligations will be assumed by the Chinese side. However, the information on the share of the Chinese contribution to the project is carefully hidden. Given that businessmen and officials from the Middle Kingdom are the most complex and tight-knit negotiators in the world, it is unlikely that they will undertake such a large-scale initiative abroad without much profit on themselves. On the little things, China usually does not exchange.

Another interesting question: where did Deripaska take the money? The oligarch, according to publicly available information, costs about $ 2 billion - that is, to build a resort for 11 billion he will have to invest in investors. Who is the main investor in Russia? That's right, the state: why not give a good person a loan from the budget for building a resort for the Chinese on the shores of Lake Baikal?

What and how it is going to build Deripaska on Lake Baikal is still unclear: there is no money, no real Chinese investments, no agreement of the inhabitants of the region to turn the lake (which, by the way, the largest freshwater reserve in the world) into a pool for Chinese tourists.

In general, to Baikal, Deripaska clearly has something personal. There are known the stories of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill and the construction of the Boguchanskaya HPP, which did not undergo either state expertise or an environmental impact assessment. The lake with its unique flora and fauna Deripaska has turned not only into a gutter for the BPPM, but also to a stable income tool: in the Baikal area, it produces electricity, and spends electricity for the production of aluminum. But the factories of the lake have not been finished yet - the ecosystem there has not yet died down to the end.

And then the Chinese come to the rescue.