Russian Finance Ministry proposes revisiting issue of large-scale privatization - minister

MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - The Finance Ministry believes it is appropriate to once again discuss the possibility of conducting large-scale privatization in Russia, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said during an extended meeting of the board of the Federal Property Agency (Rosimushchestvo) on Tuesday.

"Generally, I would also like to ask, [Deputy Prime Minister] Marat Shakirzyanovich [Khusnullin], we will have a proposal regarding large-scale privatization. In our view, now is the time when this issue could once again be put on the agenda," he said.

The Finance Ministry has periodically made such proposals in recent years, including submitting them to the government, but these ideas have not been implemented in practice, in particular due to opposition from sectoral agencies.

The Finance Ministry plans to intensify the privatization of property entering the treasury, including through court decisions, Siluanov said. "This has already been mentioned. In 2025, revenues from the sale of such property are expected to amount to at least 100 billion rubles," he said.

The Finance Ministry considers it necessary to maintain the momentum of budget revenues from the sale of unused property that was established last year.

Dividend revenues of more than 400 billion rubles should be ensured in 2025, excluding dividends from Sberbank which are accounted for as income from National Wealth Fund (NWF) investments, Siluanov said.