Putin Says Government Will Scale Back Privatization
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the state would scale back its 2009 privatization plans to keep undervalued assets from being sold off, a move that follows a revenue shortfall from last year's sales.
"Under the current conditions, it's important to give proper attention to whether the things that we're privatizing have been fairly valued. Even if there's a crisis, command assets should not be marked down for sale," he said at a meeting of the Presidium, Interfax reported.
"The assets clearly have depreciated as a result of established events, and it's necessary to look at the opportunities for these enterprises' growth," he said, without specifying how much the state had planned to sell.
The oversight sold off 7.2 billion rubles ($216 million) worth of state assets in 2008, missing its goal of 12 billion rubles. Putin said the current situation was as much a result of poor planning and effort as it was of the crisis.
"Shortfalls occurred not just last year but in 2005-2007, when market conditions were extremely favorable. This means we are either planning or working badly," he said.
The prime minister told the Economic Development Ministry to prepare a revised privatization proposal. Unlike the infamous sales in the 1990s, when state assets were sold off at knockdown prices, the majority of privatizations now are of property and smaller companies.
The Federal Property Management Agency is planning to organize online auctions for some illiquid management assets, Yury Petrov, the agency's head, said Thursday. The agency will also make report on the auctions more freely available on the Internet.
The number of federal unitary enterprises -- state-controlled companies ranging from Russian Post to research institutes that don't have ownership rights to the assets they use -- dropped by nearly 40 percent in 2008, Putin said.
The weighted value of enterprises in which the state does not hold a controlling stake is now 39 percent, down from as high as 77 percent, Interfax said.
"Under the current conditions, it's important to give proper attention to whether the things that we're privatizing have been fairly valued. Even if there's a crisis, command assets should not be marked down for sale," he said at a meeting of the Presidium, Interfax reported.
"The assets clearly have depreciated as a result of established events, and it's necessary to look at the opportunities for these enterprises' growth," he said, without specifying how much the state had planned to sell.
The oversight sold off 7.2 billion rubles ($216 million) worth of state assets in 2008, missing its goal of 12 billion rubles. Putin said the current situation was as much a result of poor planning and effort as it was of the crisis.
"Shortfalls occurred not just last year but in 2005-2007, when market conditions were extremely favorable. This means we are either planning or working badly," he said.
The prime minister told the Economic Development Ministry to prepare a revised privatization proposal. Unlike the infamous sales in the 1990s, when state assets were sold off at knockdown prices, the majority of privatizations now are of property and smaller companies.
The Federal Property Management Agency is planning to organize online auctions for some illiquid management assets, Yury Petrov, the agency's head, said Thursday. The agency will also make report on the auctions more freely available on the Internet.
The number of federal unitary enterprises -- state-controlled companies ranging from Russian Post to research institutes that don't have ownership rights to the assets they use -- dropped by nearly 40 percent in 2008, Putin said.
The weighted value of enterprises in which the state does not hold a controlling stake is now 39 percent, down from as high as 77 percent, Interfax said.
