Source: Govt, firms may list projects under Belousov’s offer mid-Oct

MOSCOW, Aug 28 (PRIME) -- The government and Russian companies may form a list of priority state projects under the initiative of presidential aide Andrei Belousov before mid-October, a source familiar with the matter told PRIME on Tuesday.

Belousov earlier suggested withdrawal of up to 500 billion rubles a year of additional income of some metals, petrochemical, and fertilizer producers. But on August 24, he backtracked and said that he and the companies agreed that the government will stimulate investment of the companies in priority state projects.

The source said that businesses and the government had agreed to work out a list of the projects at a Tuesday meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. “They agreed to create two working groups until the end of the week, and the groups are to make a list of priority investment projects before somewhere around the middle of October,” the source said.

The first group will comprise government officials and owners of companies that would define a common strategy for Belousov’s offer, while the second will comprise top managers of the companies that would flesh out details and estimates of the suggested projects, the source said.

(67.3963 rubles – U.S. $1)

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