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Limit to State Bailouts
President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday that the state would stop handing out easy bailouts to companies unless they can present concrete restructuring plans.
The state is not going to "give away guarantees," Medvedev said at a meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Russian news agencies reported. "We should help those who are ready to restructure their work more efficiently," he said.
The 295 companies from a list of economically vital businesses published by the state late last year have asked for 350 billion rubles ($10 billion) in aid and 213 billion ($6.1 billion) in state guarantees, Shuvalov said. Companies' presence on the list does not automatically mean that they will receive aid, he said. (AP)
$149M for Rebel Regions
Russia will give the separatist Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia a total of 5.16 billion rubles ($149 million) in economic aid, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
Abkhazia will receive 2.36 billion rubles and South Ossetia 2.8 billion rubles after a signing ceremony on Tuesday, the ministry said. The money is intended to help the regions balance their budgets and meet expenses such as pensions and state salaries. Spending cuts in Russia did not affect aid for the two regions, the ministry said. (Bloomberg)
AvtoVAZ Seeks State Help
AvtoVAZ is seeking 26 billion rubles ($750 million) from the government to continue production, Vedomosti reported Monday.
State-run wrote a letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin asking for 26 billion rubles in loans and guarantees, the newspaper said. The automaker has borrowed 36 billion rubles from banks, including and Group, backed by 45 billion rubles of assets, or 60 percent of its total, and cannot take on new bank debt, the newspaper reported. (Bloomberg)
X5 Won't Convert Loan
X5 Retail Group said Monday that it had no plans to convert a $1.1 billion loan from foreign banks into shares in Russia's biggest food retailer, denying a report in Kommersant.
"The loan, due December 2010, will be partially or in-full refinanced through debt," X5 spokeswoman Anna Kareva said. (Bloomberg)
Deripaska Debt Transferred
Oleg Deripaska transferred the $2.8 billion debt he took out to buy Russneft to the oil producer, Vedomosti reported Monday, citing three sources familiar with the transaction.
Russneft is now responsible for servicing the loan, which is backed by all of its shares and some shares of GAZ, a carmaker owned by Deripaska, it said. Sberbank originally gave the loan to Deripaska's Russian Machines holding, which also manages GAZ. (Bloomberg)
Norilsk in Australian Talks
Poseidon Nickel, an Australian exploration company chaired by billionaire Andrew Forrest, said Monday that it was in talks to buy 's Cawse mine.
"Negotiations are incomplete and ongoing," the company said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. "Poseidon will continue to keep the market fully informed regarding the acquisition." (Bloomberg)
