Finance Ministry opposes sharing privatization proceeds with Sovcomflot
MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) - The Finance Ministry opposes the idea of allocating a portion of the proceeds from the privatization sale of 25% minus one share in Sovcomflot to the company itself.
Initial plans were to share the privatization proceeds 50-50 between the budget and Sovcomflot, for which a supplementary issue to boost charter capital by 12.5% was registered. On Tuesday, Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said 75% of the sale proceeds would go to the state and 25% to Sovcomflot.
However, given that a state stake in VTB will not be privatized this year, the Finance Ministry is opposed to sharing the proceeds of the Sovcomflot privatization with the company itself, according to comments from Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev.
"We currently expect that [state property agency] Rosimushchestvo will propose something else for sale, in order to make up for the sources that have been dropped, attributable to VTB, which was in the neighborhood of 100 billion rubles. In fact, for that reason, we hope that Rosimushchestvo will propose something. In that regard, of course, the Economic Development Ministry's proposal that a portion of the money from the Sovcomflot privatization goes to the company does not at all suit us," Moiseyev told reporters on Wednesday.
Oreshkin said the Sovcomflot privatization might take place in the first half of the year, but no earlier than May.
