MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Russia plans to collect 33 billion USD in three year privatization plan

Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina

The Russian government approved a three year (2011/2013) privatization plan paving the way for a sale of federal assets which could yield 1 trillion roubles (33 billion US dollars), Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said in Moscow following a cabinet meeting.

The government hopes to get most of the privatization revenues from the sale of shares in ten major state-owned banks and companies. All decisions on the sale of these companies have been confirmed, Nabiullina said.

The list of privatisations includes the sale of shares in oil major Rosneft (25% minus one share), RusHydro hydropower generator (7.97% minus one share), the Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy System (4.11% minus one share), the country's largest shipping company Sovcomflot (50% minus one share), Russia's top bank Sberbank (7.58% minus one share), the second largest lender VTB bank (35.5% minus one share), the United Grain Company (100% by 2012), Rosagroleasing agricultural leasing company (50% minus one share from 2013), the Russian Railways monopoly (25% minus one share from 2013) and Russian Agricultural Bank (25% minus one share by 2015).

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said last month that the government expected to raise a total of 1.8 trillion roubles by 2015 from privatizations of some 900 companies. The details of asset sales for 2013-15 still need to be finalized.

The ministry plans to create a public database that would provide information on privatization of the state assets to make the process more transparent, Nabiullina said.

The database would include a list of government-owned companies and details of their operations, as well as information on the privatization process. Information on leased federal property will also be accessible, she said.

Meanwhile, Roman Goryunov, chief executive of the RTS stock exchange, expressed concern that the Russian government was considering a London listing of shares of the companies to be privatized.

“We have heard that the Economic Development Ministry planned to list [the companies' shares] in London. If this happens, we can forget about [Moscow as an] international financial centre,” he told a conference in Moscow, Interfax reported.