MoscowTimes: Back in April, President Vladimir Putin was asked at a press conference why he planned to sell state companies just when the market was at bottom.
Putin’s reply was blunt: “We need the money.”
Russia was, after all, in a bind. A deep recession and plunging oil prices meant tax revenues were dwindling. Putin was unwilling to borrow to finance a growing budget shortfall. So his ministers drew up plans to privatize assets worth 1 trillion rubles ($15 billion).
The largest privatization since the 1990s, it would be enough to cover around two-fifths of the planned budget deficit of 3 percent of GDP.
Still, many had their doubts. Putin has never been keen to privatize. And he insisted that despite rock-bottom company valuations, there should be no sales at knockdown prices.
But on July 11, the first sale was completed. The government successfully sold a 10.9 percent stake in Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond miner, for 52.2 billion rubles ($816 million). MORE
h/t Whatever
How much they asking for those old Soviet era potato buckets?
Set aside about 10,000 rounds of that Wolf brand 7.62×39, Vlad. And I expect a great discount for giving you more respect than I give your bitch 0bama
He can always confiscate the properties later. Unless the buyer is a Putin crony, he would have to be the dumbest buyer on earth.
William Seward knew what to do when the Russians said, “We need the money.” Now we have alleged leadership intent on giving everything away.
while our government grows and grows and grows with no intent ever of downsizing.
So, how much you askin’ for that uranium outfit?
They said, “Putin was unwilling to borrow to finance a growing budget shortfall.”
IOW, Putin didn’t want to mortgage his children’s future by printing billions of fairy dust rubles. Good for him-in the long run, what he’s doing is a win-win for Russia.
Hey, Putin, build a phony green factory and Obama will give you all the money you need! And both Ryan and Chinless will double that amount!
Best I can offer is about tree-fiddy.
Is he mesmerizing the baby chicken like he does W. and Hussein?
izlamo delenda est …
@Tim: That’s actually a baby Frenchman, just FYI.
😂
If we had real leaders they would pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution than sell the land holdings in the west to US citizens to retire the debt.
Vietvet,
That’s cold man … just cold …
izlamo delenda est …