BUCHAREST (Reuters) - The rewards are currently higher than the risks for equity investments in Russia and Ukraine, the chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group said on Monday.

"Right now our calculation is that reward is better than the risk for both the Russian and Ukraine investments," Mark Mobius told Reuters in an interview in the Romanian capital Bucharest.

His emerging markets fund holds about $200 million in Ukrainian stocks and $500 million in Russian equities.

"Most of the assets and investments that we have in Ukraine are in the western side, the non-Russian speaking side. The word we're getting from the companies in which we invested is 'no big deal'. ForRussia prices have been really depressed, and the valuations are extremely attractive."

Mobius envisioned a scenario in which "some accommodation (was) reached between Ukrainian authorities and the Russians to move more towards a federalist system, where the Russian speaking parts of the country have some degree of autonomy."

The United States froze assets and imposed visa bans on seven powerful Russians close to PresidentVladimir Putin on Monday and also sanctioned 17 companies in reprisal for Moscow's actions inUkraine.

Russia Vladimir putin Ukraine