PRESS: Govt does not mull Russian Railways privatization–official

MOSCOW, Feb 7 (PRIME) -- The government is not so far considering privatization of Russian Railways, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said in an interview with Izvestia newspaper released Tuesday.

“I will say right away that we do not intend to privatize Russian Railways. Just some days ago a privatization program has been approved by the government, and Russian Railways is not included on the list. Moreover, when we were discussing privatization of Russian Railways last year, we were talking about a very small stake, which could be sold to non-government pension funds, but even this is not on the agenda now,” Shuvalov said.

CEO Oleg Belozyorov said in December 2016 he believed it was not feasible to privatize the Russian Railways in 2017.

The Economic Development Ministry’s privatization plan for 2017–2019 encompasses a reduction of the government’s stake in Russian Railways to 75 plus one share from 100% currently.

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