Professional, independent board directors for govt companies have positive impact – Medvedev

MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) – Introducing professional and independent directors to the boards of government companies has a positive impact and the authorities continue to work toward this, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a plenary session of the World Economic Forum in Davos called “Development Scenarios for Russia.”

“The boards of public companies mostly have professional and independent directors. We are continuing this work because we see the positive impact,” the prime minister said.

Reducing surplus government presence in the economy is “an ideological issue and an ideological vector in our policy,” he said.

The new privatization program has already yielded its first results, Medvedev said. “Stakes have been privatized in major government companies and the budget obtained revenue of over $7 billion and with companies that are indirectly controlled by the government – over $10 billion. This indicator is a guide for the future. I stress that this is not just a budget indicator,” he said.

“Changes in exchange legislation has boosted demand for ruble assets, which is step by step already converting the ruble into a significant regional currency.”

Vedomosti reported earlier that the government recently sent a list of candidates for the boards of government companies and banks to the presidential administration for approval. The lists were quite different from the versions proposed by the Economic Development Ministry and the
Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo) – with almost all officials removed. The Kremlin will not make any serious amendments to the government lists, said Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.