30 Nov 2010 13:10

Authorities should not own 'factories, newspapers, ships' - Medvedev

MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that government officials should divest of properties not directly related to their jobs.

"Authorities should divest themselves of properties that have no direct relationship to their immediate responsibilities," the president said Tuesday in his annual message to Russia's Federal Assembly.

Medvedev said that privatization revenues should be used primarily for modernizing Russia's economy. "This needs to be decided at both the regional and local level," he said.

The law says that regional authorities may hold properties necessary for the fulfillment of their responsibilities, the president said. "Correspondingly, other properties should be privatized," Medvedev said.