At the end of 20th century, once active, the cooperation between Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe has almost ceased. The latter relatively quickly reoriented towards the European Union both due to economic and political reasons. Since the beginning of the 2000's, the Russian Federation increased its influence within the region because of growing Russian direct investment. The article analyses investment expansion of Russian companies in the Central and Eastern Europe before the global economic crunch. Special attention is paid to certain barriers impeding the development of this process.