27.12.08

The premier outlined the following criteria for selection: net profit (over 15 billion rubles), employment of at least 4,000, importance for the city economy, and tax fidelity. Companies and enterprises on the would-be list were guaranteed loans, partial recompense of the rate of interest, additional capitalization, state order, and tariff support.

Government commission chaired by Igor Shuvalov put the list together by December 23 but Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said some additional work was needed. Nabiullina wanted two lists - those of enterprises important for economies of their respective cities and townships and the ones important in their respective sectors of national economy - merged. The government web site posted the list of 295 so called "backbone organizations" yesterday. All companies on the list are divided into 25 categories. Power industry is represented by 35 companies, metallurgy and primary sector by 32, transport by 30, and food industry and agricultural sector by 35. The list also includes media outlets (RIA-Novosti news agency, All-Russian State TV and Radio Broadcasting Corporation, TV Channel One) and retailers (X5, Magnit, Victoria, Kopeika, Lenta, and other networks).

As things stand, experts appraise the list as definitely odd. For example, it includes Aviakompania, an obscure outfit with the authorized capital amounting to only 100,000 rubles. Some companies were put on the list twice (Saturn and Uralvagonzavod). Sinterra and MTS never made the list but AFK Sistema did. (Apart from telecommunications, this latter is widely represented in other spheres. It owns Detski Mir network, Intourist travel agency, Sistema-Gals developer.) "All major coal-mining companies predictably made the list because omitting them would have incited protests and disturbances," Dmitry Smolin of Uralsib said. "It is the list of metallurgists that surprised me. First time I heard anything about companies like Wolfram or Mineral Group..."

"The list will be expanded yet," prime minister's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said. "It's highly mobile, you know. Assistance from the state implies monitoring by the ministry in charge and some companies and enterprises just might refuse it."

"This whole idea is bad," FBK partner Igor Nikolayev pointed out. "It breeds leading-strings mentality. Businesses are not encouraged to seek their own anti-crisis solutions."

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Source: “Vedomosti”