RS Brief news Government expands privatisation programme

Government expands privatisation programme

August 2011

By order of President D. Medvedev, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is expanding its privatisation programme. The project includes 21 companies – 13 more than originally planned for.

Finance Minister A. Kudrin estimated that revenues from the sale of the first batch of accumulation shares of state companies of $30 billion and revenues from the sale of the second batch of shares would be 25-50% more. The total proceeds from privatisation under the new scheme should be around $75 billion.

Fourteen companies will be completely privatised, and the state will maintain control over half of these. The Government has acknowledged that a full withdrawal by 2017 is reasonable, while retaining a controlling interest in the authorised capital of Sheremetyevo International Airport, Sovcomflot, INTER RAO UES, and Rosneft. The state will withdraw from Aeroflot's Articles of Association, while its status of "national carrier" will be preserved. The state will withdraw from AK ALROSA's capital with a "golden share". It is expected that the state's interest in Russian Railways, Transneft, and others will drop to 75% plus 1 share by 2017. The list also includes Sberbank and VTB Bank.

The state will retain control of companies that are involved in ensuring national security.