UPDATE: Minister says Russia should discuss sale of Sberbank, VTB

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MOSCOW, Jan 13 (PRIME) -- The Russian government should resume discussions of privatization of largest state-run banks – Sberbank and VTB, which will improve the situation with capital adequacy of the banking system, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Wednesday at the Gaidar Forum.

“I think we should return to the issue of privatization of our largest banks with state participation, Sberbank and VTB. These assets are of high quality and are attractive for the whole world,” he said.

The privatization will drastically improve the situation with capital of the whole banking sector, he added.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the ministry expects to raise about 1 trillion rubles for state coffers in two years from privatization.

“We continue working to attract revenues and new funding sources…We are speaking about an increase of budget sources like privatization … We may receive about 1 trillion rubles in two years from additional fund raising from sales of state property. It is a realistic figure,” he said.

The federal budget for 2016 encompasses 90 billion rubles of revenue from privatization of state assets.

(76.6041 rubles – U.S. $1)

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