Putin pledges support for companies going public, stresses need for incentives

MOSCOW. Dec 4 (Interfax) - The Russian government plans to support companies listing on the stock exchange, President Vladimir Putin said, emphasizing the need to develop measures to incentivize issuers to increase the volume of placements.

"I would like to note that this year alone, 19 primary and secondary share placements have taken place in Russia. Issuers have been able to raise 102 billion rubles. The result is quite satisfactory, good, but it is small on a national scale. I would like to repeat that the Russian capital market must participate more actively in financing development projects and structural changes in our economy. The government, together with the Central Bank, needs to prepare a package of additional measures to incentivize the issuers of shares, so that listing on the stock market is more profitable and interesting for them. Particularly, it is necessary to increase demand for securities by ensuring the effective protection of investors' rights and the necessary transparency of companies' information. Let me remind you that instructions have already been issued in this regard on the matter. We need to intensify and strengthen work in these areas," Putin said at the VTB Russia Calling! forum.

Putin also spoke in favor of one of the Central Bank's principal proposals to incentivize issuers to list on the stock market.

"I would also like to draw attention to the fact that primarily small companies are listing on the stock market today, while many large organizations, leaders in their respective industries, are still not listed on the stock market. This means that measures to support issuers must account for the needs of small businesses, promising startups, and incentivize large companies to list their shares. For example, it would be possible for them to link receiving government subsidies or preferential loans with listing on the stock exchange. This seems rather fair to me," he said.