Russian energy, transport, finance companies among privatisation candidates, says finance ministry

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, - Russian state-owned companies from the energy, transport and finance sectors will be among the candidates for privatisation, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday, as Moscow seeks to raise funds for the federal budget.
Shunned by Western capital since launching the conflict in Ukraine, Moscow has been seeking ways to foster more domestic private investment, increase economic efficiency and, ultimately, bolster budget revenue as Russia spends heavily on the war.
"It is such a delicate issue just now, but I can say that it is energy, transport and finance," Siluanov said at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.
"We are interested in attracting new money for the development of companies," Siluanov said. "There are currently difficulties with financing the investment programmes of large corporations."
Officials have for months teased the market with hints about which companies could be candidates for privatisation, without giving concrete names.
In 2010, the finance ministry, then led by reformist Alexei Kudrin, first launched a multi-year privatisation campaign to dispose of state assets, but the scheme ultimately stalled. The state sale of a stake in oil major Rosneft was the main deal from that time.
Siluanov suggested resurrecting the dormant privatisation drive in late 2023, submitting a list of 30 company names to the government in a proposal that would see the state keep controlling stakes.
In March, the ministry said the privatisation of stakes in seven large companies next year would raise up to 300 billion roubles for the budget.
Several major Russian firms have complained of the prohibitive cost of borrowing, with interest rates at 20%.
Preparing state-owned companies for initial public offerings would require serious preparation, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.
Russia has also struggled to attract investment in the last few years, with Western companies withdrawing funds and investors from countries friendly to Moscow not yet picking up the slack.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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