MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The Russian Government will hold the meeting shortly to approve the privatization plan for this year, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters on Thursday.

"Soon," Shuvalov said responding to the question regarding the time frame for the government meeting on approval of the 2017 privatization plan.

The privatization plan of government assets for 2017-2019 should be thoroughly checked and the government will not hurry up with its approval, the official said.

"We are discussing it [the privatization plan for 2017-2019 - TASS]. There is absolutely no need to hurry up; it should be thoroughly verified," Shuvalov said.

On Russia's economic development 

The government’s expectations on Russian economic development are reserved but optimistic, according to Shuvalov.

"Our expectations (on the economy) are positive. Our expectations are reserved but optimistic," he told reporters.

According to Shuvalov, foreign companies now feel much better about the outlook for the Russian market.

"We see that the companies look at our market in a quite different way than two years ago, they want to invest, but this desire should be transformed into specific actions, factories, enterprises should be launched," the first prime minister said.

The Gaidai Forum, an annual international economy-related conference and one of Russia’s biggest such events, has been held since 2010. It was established in memory of Egor Gaidar, a Russian economist and ideologist of reforms of the early 1990s. Traditionally the forum is attended by government officials, exports, representatives of Russia and foreign businesses.