Russia is fine-tuning a plan to sell off $59 billion in assets, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Thursday after officials unveiled key details of the Kremlin's biggest privatization drive in a over a decade.
Russia's leaders need money to plug a hole in the budget and ratchet up growth ahead of the 2012 presidential election, in which former president Putin has hinted he may stand.
Putin, still seen as Russia's paramount leader, chaired a closed meeting of senior ministers late on Wednesday at which the draft plan to raise 1.8 trillion roubles ($59 billion) by selling off 900 state stakes was discussed.
"The document requires further work and the working process is continuing," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said by telephone.
He declined to say when Putin would make a decision on the asset sales which had been expected to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Putin told foreign investors on Monday that the sales would be discussed at a cabinet meeting in the near future.
Putin's approval is essential for the plan, which could be controversial after the asset sales of the 1990s allowed a tiny group of businessmen to amass fortunes by gaining control over some of the former Soviet Union's best companies.
Russia's budget plunged into the red last year for the first time in a decade, but with deficits forecast for another five years and spending likely to stay high ahead of the 2012 election, Russia needs cash, or at least the option to raise it.
The government is trying to raise around $3 billion via the launch of its debut rouble-denominated sovereign Eurobond. The list of organizers will be unveiled in coming days, and state-controlled VTB Capital will be on it.
Russia returned to the sovereign Eurobond market this April after more than a decade's absence, raising some $5.5 billion with 5- and 10-year paper in a placement organized by VTB Capital (VTBR.MM), Citi (C.N), Barclays (BARC.L) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX).
STATE ASSET SALES
Once Putin has given his approval, the sales can move ahead, although First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov was quoted by Russian news agencies on Wednesday as saying some of the key sales would be carried out in or after 2012.
The most valuable stakes include 15 percent of Russia's biggest oil producer, Rosneft (ROSN.MM), and a quarter of the national railway company Russian Railways.
Largest lender Sberbank also said it would sell 9 percent of its shares, including 3-4 percent on the stockmarket, in a move that would raise around 200 billion roubles ($6.51 billion) at current prices.
Its shares were up 5.5 percent by 1437 GMT, while Rosneft was up more than 4 percent in an overall Moscow market up 2 percent.
(source:reuters.com)
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