Russia set for sale of the century in reverse

As a result of Russia’s financial turmoil in the autumn of 2008, many of the country’s oligarchs are in dire financial straits, and €38bn of government aid has been made available to finance their external debts – part of a $200bn-plus Kremlin plan for national economic bail-out measures.

Article reports that the Russian state could wind up owning huge chunks of formerly private companies as a result of the bail-out measures. A senior Russian policymaker said on the 21 October 2008, however, that the government had no plans to 'nationalise' these forfeited shares, but would seek to sell them as soon as market conditions improved.

Russia Today, 22.10.08: Government rebuffs faltering rouble rumours after public rush for dollars http://rt.com/news/

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