Aberdeen Property Investors has said it is finalising plans to launch a Russian direct property fund for institutional investors. 'Many of our institutional clients have expressed an interest in gaining exposure in the Eastern European property markets and want to have a professional partner with local resources,' commented Ubbe Strihagen, international director of Aberdeen Property Investors. 'We have spent the last 12 months preparing for our expansion into Russia and are now in the final stages of structuring our first Russian fund'. The fund should be up and ruining during the third quarter of this year, he said.