MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. The Russian government has no plans to privatize the country’s biggest lender Sberbank in 2016, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said in a CNBC interview Wednesday.
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Russian authorities plan to sell stakes in several major state-owned assets in 2016, including oil producers Rosneft and Bashneft, shipping company Sovcomflot, and diamond miner Alrosa.
"Our plan is to start this year," Dvorkovich said. However, addressing speculation that the country might sell a stake in Sberbank this year, he added: "That is out of the question."
According to the official, the government is preparing the markets for a series of transactions. "We have a list of companies where we can sell some stakes. Also strategic companies. Not just in the financial sector but also in logistics, in the oil sector and some other sectors of the economy," he said.
On Tuesday the Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukayev said privatization of state-owned assets is hardly likely before summer 2016. "Hardly earlier than summer because selection of consultants and road show procedures are underway now," the minister said. The ministry plans to nominate managing banks for privatization early in April.