The state of the markets in Russia now “leaves much to be desired,” so privatization should not be an end in itself, Dmitry Peskov, the presidential press secretary, told reporters during a briefing. Thus, he commented on an article by the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber, Alexei Kudrin, where he stated the need to reduce the public sector in the economy, since state-owned companies rarely become economic and innovative drivers.
“It is obvious that on the whole the market has already moved to the recovery process, but so far it is growth from the minimum base, as they say. Therefore, in absolute terms, of course, while the state of the markets leaves much to be desired. In this regard, privatization as a process is undoubtedly important, but it should not be an absolute end in itself, ”he said.
According to Peskov, in recent years, situations have repeatedly arisen when, due to privatization, “entire industries” were “on the verge of extinction.” After that, “with great difficulty it was necessary to consolidate again in the hands of the state and, through huge investments, to revive virtually from scratch these industries,” the Kremlin spokesman summed up.
At the same time, Peskov stressed that Kudrin is a very experienced economist who has long been the best finance minister in the world. However, along with his point of view, there are others, added the presidential spokesman.
In his article published the day before, Kudrin said that the state is a less efficient owner than private structures. In his opinion, most Russian state-owned companies are less flexible in terms of management, since they depend on the bureaucracy and their boards of directors often include officials. All this negatively affects the speed of decision-making and setting breakthrough goals, the head of the Accounting Chamber noted.
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