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Russia's Sberbank may be privatized with controlling or blocking stake retained — minister

Sberbank performs an important social function and therefore caution should be exercised when privatizing it

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Sberbank may be privatized with controlling or blocking stake retained by the government, Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukayev said on Monday on the air with Rossiya 24 TV Channel.

"Holding a controlling stake [of Sberbank shares - TASS] and reducing the government’s stake to the blocking package is fairly possible and makes possible to eliminate existing risks," the minister said.

Sberbank performs social function, to be privatized with caution

According to the official, Sberbank performs an important social function and therefore caution should be exercised when privatizing it.

"Sberbank is a special institute that shoulders a social burden in addition with the important economic one. Therefore maximal caution should be exercised in this regard," the Minister said responding to a question regarding its privatization.

The government does not plan Sberbank’s privatization in 2016, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said earlier. Chief Executive Officer of Sberbank Herman Gref also noted he believes privatization of the bank in 2016 is unfeasible in view of the challenging economic situation.