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Medvedev to hold conference on privatization of major joint-stock companies

MOSCOW, February 17, 4:04 /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will hold a conference in Gorki on Monday to discuss prospects for privatizing Federally-owned shares of major joint-stock companies which are inclcded in the 2014-2016 forecast plan for the privatization of Federal property.

First Vice-Premier Igor Shuvalov, Vice-Premier Arkady Dvorkovich, Assistant to the President Andrei Belousov, Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov, Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, and Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev will participate in the conference, the government press service reported.

Under the 2011-2013 Prgramme for the Privatization of Federal Property, it was planned to privatize 1,414 economic entities,whereas actually 750 enterprises were privatized, which acccounted for 53 percent of those included int he privatization programme. Federal budget revenue from the sale of Federal property amounted to 111 billion roubles in 2011, 207 billion roubles in 2012, and 292 billion roubles in 2013, the government press service points out.

The largest sellings in the 2011-2013 period, organized by Rosimushchestvo (Federal Agency for Management of Federal Property), were as follows: the OAO (public joint-stock company) Vostochny (eastern) Port, where proceeds from the sale of 20 percent of Federally-owned shares amounted to 912 million roubles; the OAO "Research Institute for Technico-Economic Studies (37.5 pct of shares, 554.6 million roubles), and the OAO Tourist Hotel Compex "Buryatia" (100 pct of shares, 508.2 million roubles).

Besides, the practice of inviting investment banks, selected on a competitive basis, for arranging the sale of Federal property was introduced at the beginning of 2011.

Such deals in the 2011-2013 period included the carve-outs of shares of the following joint-stock companies: 10 percent of shares of the OAO VTB (foreign-trade) Bank, and 100 percent of shares of the OAO Prosveshcheniye (education) publishing house. The year 2012 saw the sale of 20 percent of the shares of the OAO Apatite, 100 pct of shares of the OAO "SG-Trans, as well as 7.58 percent of shares minus one share of the OAO Sberbank of Russia. In 2013, the State sold 55 percent of the shares of the OAO Vanino merchant seaport, 25.5 percent of the shares of the Sibir air company, and 7 peercent of shares of the OAO Alrosa.

Last year, Rosimushchestvo subimitted a 2014-2016 forecast plan to the government. Under the plan, 25 percent minus one share of the OAO Sovcomflot must be privatized before the end of 2014. The plan also points out the termination of State participation in the capital of Rostelecomm. Before the end of 2015, 11 percent of the shares of VTB and 3.1 percent of shares of the Transneft joint-stock company may be privatized. Provision is also made for two stages of the privatization of the Russian Railways Company (RZD). According to the document, 5 percent of the RZD shares are expected to be privatized before the end of 2014, and another 20 percent before the end of 2016.