Russia approves 60 billion dollar privatisation program involving 900 state-owned companies

China Economic Network Beijing October 21 (Wang Hongjuan) Russia's first Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov (Igor Shuvalov) said in an interview in Wednesday that the Russian government had approved a privatisation programme involving up to $60 billion trillion in capital,　　More than 900 state-owned enterprises will gradually transition to private ownership in the next 5 years.　　This is the largest privatisation plan ever devised by the Russian government, including a number of large state-owned companies such as Russia's largest energy company, the Russian oil industry (Rosneft), VTB Bank and the Russian Railway Corporation.　　The Interfax news agency said the plan would be completed in the next five years, mainly by selling state assets to private investors and private institutions and reducing the government's shareholding in state-owned companies. Shuvalov said the privatization plan involved much more scope and funding than was originally submitted.　　He said the Russian government hopes to promote market economy reform by reducing the state's interference in economic activities by promoting full privatization. According to China's economic network, the government's privatisation plan, announced in July this year, involved a total of $50 billion trillion, a new plan that exceeded 10 billion dollars.　　It has been reported that China Investment Limited has expressed interest in Russia's privatisation, which wants to invest in some of the assets sold by Russian state-owned enterprises. The Interfax news agency said the new plan was more radical than the original plan. Under the new plan, the Russian government will reduce its stake in the Russian oil industry by at least 15% per cent 2015 years ago and plan to reduce its holdings by more than 2015 years. The report quoted Shuvalov as saying that the government's goal is to convert most state-owned enterprises into private capital-holding companies, and that the Government will only participate in dividends and no longer be involved in management and operation.