Moscow is unlikely to become an international financial center and can only aspire to be a regional financial hub, World Bank economist Lucio Vinhas de Souza said on Thursday.

He told the first international conference on Russia's money market that the country was not yet perceived as an attractive market as it had little to offer to foreign investors.

Compared with the other BRIC countries - Brazil, India and China - he said Russia was at the bottom of the list of investors' interest in it and the situation was not improving.

Asian financial centers were currently more attractive for investors, said de Souza, who is working with the World Bank’s Development Prospects Group in Washington while on sabbatical from working on Russia as part of the European Commission’s economic directorate.

Even though financial centers in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities have some market restrictions and are less diversified in terms of financial products than Russia, they have unparalleled growth rates and dimensions, he said.

De Souza said that Russia should bring its expectations into line with reality and focus on moves toward playing a larger role in the region.