Privatization in the 1990s was largely wrong, but it was not done with criminal intent.
„I don't think this was done intentionally with any criminal intent. Yes, in many ways it was wrong, it was based on the opinion of world-famous economists, including those of Russian origin, who said that it is necessary to privatize everything as quickly as possible and no matter what, even for 1 dollar”. This is what Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Currently, there is no talk of a revision of the results of privatization and, according to him, there are “a number of cases related to the return of certain assets to state ownership”. These are cases where the actions of the owners damage the security of the state. “Seizing a business is justified only in the situation I just mentioned”, Putin stressed.
On June 7, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that since 2022, more than 100 enterprises, whose assets are estimated at 1.3 trillion rubles, have been handed over to the state as a result of claims by the prosecutor's office. “Out of the total number of enterprises, about 20 have been turned into state income for reasons related to their illegal acquisition by foreigners,” Krasnov noted.
On June 6, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced that the Ministry of Finance plans to sell assets confiscated from state revenue by a court decision. “Yes, these assets are in the treasury, they have been transferred to it and we will sell them. Such tasks are assigned to the Federal Property Management Agency”, he said.
Earlier, in March, Siluanov called for the sale of assets that became state property as a result of a series of court decisions in 2023–2024. “If you look at their price, we will get 100 billion rubles, and maybe and more“, noted the minister.