Russian finance ministry plans to revive mass privatisation drive
March 18 (Reuters) - Russia intends to revive plans for major privatisations in 2025 and also expects to bring in over $1.2 billion by selling assets seized through the courts, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Tuesday.
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 revenues as Russia spends heavily on the war.
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"We have had proposals for big privatisation," Siluanov said at a meeting with Rosimushchestvo, Russia's federal property management agency. "In our view, now is the time when we can put this issue on the agenda once again."
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 (ROSN.MM), opens new tab was the main deal from that time.
In late 2023, Siluanov proposed resurrecting that privatisation drive, submitting to the government a list of 30 large state-owned companies and proposing to sell shares in them without losing a controlling stake, as part of an effort to reduce pressure on the domestic borrowing market.
The ministry did not name the proposed companies and no major deals happened. Head of VTB Bank (VTBR.MM), opens new tab Andrei Kostin had suggested oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, Russian Railways and Russian Post as potential candidates.
Siluanov said privatisations would intensify this year, including through court decisions on seized assets.
"In 2025, the receipt of revenues from the sale of such property is envisaged at no less than 100 billion roubles ($1.23 billion)," Siluanov said.
Russia has already quickened the pace of domestic asset seizures in 2025, with courts ruling early this year that a leading grain trader, Moscow's Domodedovo airport and strategic warehouse assets be handed over to the state.
Rosimushchestvo, meanwhile, has stepped in to run foreign-owned assets that Moscow has unilaterally seized in the last three years, such as those formerly held by Danish brewer Carlsberg (CARLb.CO), opens new tab and French yoghurt maker Danone (DANO.PA), opens new tab.
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