The state will save its share – Kommersant FM
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The Ministry of Finance responded to German Gref’s statement about the possible privatization of Sberbank. The head of the department, Anton Siluanov, said in an interview with Rossiya 24 that the authorities are not considering such a step. Last week, the head of Sberbank said that most of the companies with state participation can be transferred into private hands. As for Sber itself, a 25% share is enough for the authorities to control it.
As German Gref noted, such a step would increase the investment attractiveness of the Russian market. However, Anton Siluanov did not agree with this. According to him, the ministry intends to discuss the privatization of other companies with state participation next year.
In total there are approximately 30 structures on the list. However, the state cannot reduce its presence in Sberbank, the Minister of Finance emphasized: “We have enough companies where the state’s share of participation could be slightly reduced, making them more market-oriented. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance has prepared such proposals. In the government, they were sent to departments in accordance with the affiliation of the companies. I hope that in 2024 we will be able to discuss the measures proposed by the Ministry of Finance and make certain decisions. The savings bank is the main and largest; the state’s share there is more than 50%, so we did not propose to reduce this share. There are other banks in which the state owns more than a controlling stake. And our proposals were aimed precisely at such companies.”
How much might privatization affect the banking sector? Sergei Prikhodko, executive director of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, believes that the state is ready to give not all shares in banks into private hands:
“This should specifically affect large organizations, and there are not so many of them. The main purpose of privatization is to gain income and control.
The state still has a controlling stake. In relation to banks that are not the largest, but quite significant in terms of financial turnover, a blocking stake can be discussed – 25% plus one share. This can be done to improve efficiency for the budget.
The share that the state is willing to part with depends solely on the bank’s role in the economy. Of course, it is difficult to imagine that the state will give up a controlling stake in organizations such as Sberbank or Gazprombank. For some reason, state-owned banks are primarily seen as potential buyers of these shares in banks with state participation. But then the whole deal will be meaningless. Although, in principle, this option is likely, because the transaction will be completed, the money will be received and sent to the budget.”
The pool of potential buyers within the framework of a new possible privatization will directly depend on exactly what share and in which bank the state is ready to give away. This is what Pavel Samiev, general director of the analytical agency BusinessDrom, believes: “Universal large state-owned banks are interesting as investment targets because they are competitive, profitable, they have good positions in the market, and, accordingly, for an investor this can be an attractive format for entering into such a bank.
If this is a small and specialized bank, then it is not very clear what exactly the investor will receive, because it is not a fact that it shows good profitability.
He may have tasks that he performs, even very important ones from the point of view of the state, but for a potential investor he may not represent any commercial benefit.”
In 2023, the state exceeded the privatization plan 16 times. According to the Federal Property Management Agency, the federal budget received almost 29 billion rubles from the sale of corporate assets and the sale of state property. At the end of 2023, the Ministry of Finance expected to earn less than 2 billion rubles from this.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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