SOCHI, February 28. /TASS/. The Russian government will continue privatization of stakes in state-owned companies, the relevant decisions will be taken depending on the market situation and won’t be linked with the anti-Russian sanctions, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Privatization will take its course. It is not connected with the sanctions, it depends on market conditions: we will have to sell what is profitable to sell," Medvedev said.

The Prime Minister said that privatization as such is not the purpose for the government.

"Privatization is a tool, it is not some special goal that we pursue. It is a tool to replenish the budget, as it was done in the case of the sale of shares of Rosneft and Alrosa, or to find a more effective owner, when we believe that the participation of a private investor will bring the best results," the head of the government said.

On December 27, 2016, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the government is considering additional assets to be privatized in 2017. The Finance Ministry is seeking to fast-track privatization but the government has not yet finalized the privatization plan and the total amount of revenues to be raised.

According to Siluanov, the plan is to privatize stakes in VTB and Sovcomflot in 2017 to raise 138 bln rubles ($2.3 bln). The Minister also denied plans to sell another 10% of Rosneft shares in 2017.