US financier Rogers says now may be time to invest in Russia

"I'm very optimistic about the future of Russia," he told a conference in Moscow arranged by investment firm BCS. "Certainly one of the most attractive stock markets in the world these days for me is Russia."

The dollar-denominated RTS index of Russian stocks fell by 45 percent last year as oil prices plunged and Western countries imposed sanctions over Russia's support of separatist rebels Ukraine. However, the RTS has gained 20 percent since the start of this year.

Rogers, who now lives in Singapore, has been a prominent financial commentator since the 1970s, when he founded the Quantum Fund in partnership with George Soros.

Russia could now be "the right place at the right time" for investors, he said. His own portfolio consists largely of Russian shares, he said, among them fertilizer company Phosagro , airline Aeroflot and the Moscow Exchange