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Deputy PM urges reduction of state share in Russian economy

Last week, the Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said that in 2017 the share of public sector in the Russian economy came close to 50%

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has urged reduction of the government’s share in Russia’s economy.

Speaking at the Moscow Stock Exchange Forum he said that predominance of the state ector in economy leads to concentration risks.

"It's not very good that decisions are made in a relatively large economy by a small number of people," Dvorkovich said.

He also noted that the country still has opportunities for privatization.

"There are two ways (to reduce the share of the public sector in the economy - TASS), the first one which we mainly used, is privatization - there is still room for it. But I would not say that this is the main way now," Dvorkovich said.

"The main way is to create new private companies and increase the volume of the private sector on the basis of a wide range of small and medium-sized enterprises, and by supporting the so-called national champions in the private sector, not only in the state sector," he stressed.

Last week, the Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said that in 2017 the share of public sector in the Russian economy again increased and came close to 50%. At the same time, the growth of the debt of state companies is not always accompanied by an increase in their profits.

The collapse of shares of Russian companies on Monday following the introduction of new US sanctions forced the Russian authorities to start talking about state support of the affected enterprises.