Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov yesterday said that the government does not intend to use the financial turmoil to change economic policy or nationalize large swathes of the economy, the Moscow Times reports. -.We don’t have any directives to lay our hands on as much private property as possible, he added.
Government is however buying major stakes in companies, troubled by the crisis. In yesterday’s government session, Finance Minister Sergey Kudrin confirmed that the Russian Parliament has approved the proposed extended powers of the Central Bank, enabling it to buy corporate stakes, Government.ru reports.
In yesterday’s government meeting, Mr. Shuvalyov said the three priority industries for the government are retail, construction and banking.
Over the last weeks, the Russian government has allocated more than 200 billion USD in loans, tax cuts and other measures. In addition, the country’s 2009 budget has been adjusted in order to open up for more support to financial instruments like the state Vnesheconombank and the Agency on Housing Credits. The government has also got the powers to spend an additional 175 billion RUB on support to the financial sector and industrial companies.
Meanwhile, also a number of other governments now step up state ownership in industry and companies. In Norway, the state has spent more than 12 billion NOK (1.39 billion EUR) on the acquisition of stocks, of that more than 7,5 billion NOK on StatoilHydro stocks, E24.no writes.
The Norwegian state now controls 65,22 percent of the oil and gas company.
