Rusal can be temporarily nationalized

The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, called it possible to use a scheme in which the state will buy out part of the shares of UC Rusal or other companies that are subject to sanctions.
19.04.2018
RBC
Origin source
Commenting on the proposal of the head of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia Mikhail Shmakov to nationalize UC Rusal in an interview with RBC television channel, Shokhin stated that it would not be possible to exclude the possibility that the state would have to buy shares of companies that were under foreign sanctions. "If they are American companies or citizens, they have a direct ban on participation in the activities of toxic companies and are under sanctions. Or it may be financial investors who are afraid to fall under the so-called secondary sanctions, "he said.

The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs pointed out that this scheme is used, among other things, in the US and the EU, where during the crisis the state "entered banking and financial institutions, and still, relatively speaking, did not reduce its share to the pre-crisis level."

At the same time, Shokhin noted that there are some difficulties in applying this scheme, since nationalization by law is possible with compensation at a fair price. "Moreover, the state is partly responsible for the state of affairs in the subordination companies, as they punish us for misconduct in the geopolitical arena. Business, to put it mildly, does not bear 100% responsibility for these political problems, "Shokhin said.

According to him, the state will have to substitute a shoulder. "Not so long ago a decision was made that for such purposes and overcoming of sanctions a special bank will be created on the basis of Prominvestbank," he said. "We should keep in mind that the support of enterprises that are in a difficult situation should not be carried out at the expense of enterprises that are doing well or are still doing well, because if we borrow money from them for support, they may soon become it's not bad at all because of sanctions.

The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs stressed that partial nationalization is one of the methods for solving problems, but not the only one and not the predominant one. "The possibilities of using the mechanism of public debt are limited. Privatization is possible for nationalization purposes, but the problem is that now many foreign investors, first of all, they are cautious about any Russian asset, because the uncertainty is very high, "Shokhin said.

Shokhin also said that he intends to use various platforms in order to show that business in Russia is an independent institution. "It would be wrong to gnobit private business, involving it in political games," he said. "It's easy to see that the fight against our oil and gas companies is a way to promote American liquefied gas to European markets, although it is 3-4 times more expensive. We are against such unconcealed protectionism, "he added.

At the same time, Shokhin pointed out that to wait for the decisions of Donald Trump on sanctions is futile, because the American president is an emotional person. According to him, if there will be progress in resolving foreign policy issues, then the pressure of sanctions regimes will weaken. But since it is difficult to lift sanctions, the only way out is to improve the business environment.

The proposal to nationalize "Rusal" Shmakov voiced at the meeting of the General Council of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions. "It's high time to nationalize this company, buy it out at the lowest price it's worth today, and continue to run it as a state investment project," he said.

According to the head of the FNPR, the demand for aluminum "will not go anywhere". "It will still be sold, it will still be bought, it will still be a fairly high price to be priced in the world market, but this profit will then go not to the owner's pocket, but to the state treasury, to the state budget to solve all the problems that says. That's what we propose and believe we need to do, "he said.

On April 6, the US Treasury introduced UC Rusal and its main owner, Deripaska, to the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals) Sanction List. For the company, this means complete isolation from the American financial system. The Russian authorities promised to support those under the sanctions companies.

Officials

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