OREANDA-NEWS. October 7, 2009. Vladimir Putin's introductory speech:  Good afternoon, colleagues,

Every year, the Government adopts a privatisation plan. At this point, our objective is to finish developing the plan for 2010.

We should pay special attention to this plan, and you know why: during the crisis, the Government expanded its presence in the economy. This was the Government's natural reaction to the fact that the private sector could not cope with the difficulties of the global financial crisis. And, of course, as we know, private companies themselves asked the Government for help.

But while the crisis indicators are mostly improving, we have to develop a clear plan to manage surplus assets and so-called federal state unitary enterprises. We know that they often work as private companies, and their main objective is to derive a profit. But at the same time they are using state property for free.

We consider privatisation to be one of the key tools in reforming the real economy, in improving the competitive environment and in attracting additional investment.

In each specific case, we should consider whether we can attract additional investment to a privatised enterprise, if an enterprise will benefit from it, and if national security standards are being met especially when privatising strategic enterprises.

Privatisation can be neither free nor privileged. If a federal property is sold, it must be sold at market value, without any discounts. This will help bring the budget deficit down.