Rosseti, RusHydro, and Transneft not to be included in final privatization program - Economic Development Ministry
MOSCOW. Oct 14 (Interfax) - A number of energy sector companies initially included in the draft privatization program for 2020-2022 will not be retained in the final version of the document, Ivan Bezmenov, head of the Russian Economic Development Ministry's Corporate Governance Department, which oversees privatization, said while answering questions during a meeting of the State Duma's Committee on Budget and Taxes on Monday.
The three-year draft state budget envisages modest revenues from privatization - a total of 18.5 billion rubles. At the same time, materials accompanying the draft budget upon its submission to the State Duma reported plans to reduce state participation in companies including RusHydro , Transneft , and Rosseti through 2022. The document notes that the specific terms and methods of privatization of these companies would be determined by the Russian government based on market trends and recommendations by consultants.
After discussions with the Energy Ministry, these plans were adjusted.
"As for what is to be included. Indeed, the draft plan initially included companies such as RusHydro, Rosseti and Transneft. At the moment, based on coordination meetings with the Energy Ministry, we have prepared the relevant protocol and are not planning to include them," Bezmenov said in the Duma.
The inclusion of stakes in leading companies in the privatization plan does not entail their mandatory sale in the indicated period - the government intentionally mentions in the plan that these decisions are made "based on separate decisions by the president and the government." Likewise, the absence of an asset from the program does not rule out its privatization. In practice, the privatization of leading assets has essentially ceased in recent years.