ST. PETERSBURG, June 1. /TASS/. The Russian Government have not yet considered privatization of the entire oil sector in the coming years, Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters commenting on ex-Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin saying that all state-owned companies in this sector should be privatized in the next 7-8 years.

"This is Kudrin's well-known expert point of view, he defends it reasonably enough. There are other opinions as well. However, as far as I know, the Government has no such plans yet," Peskov said.

Head of Russia’s Center for Strategic Research (CSR) and ex-Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2017) earlier that Russia’s oil sector should be fully privatized within the next 7-8 years.

"The oil sector should be fully privatized in the next 7-8 years, no state companies are required there now as the statehood brings more harm than benefit to those companies," he said, adding that oil companies are able to deal with problems without the participation of the state.