Bank Rossiisky Kredit, a prominent loser so far in the government's loans-for-shares program, has proposed joining five other banks to assume control of the shares of three recently auctioned enterprises, the bank said.


At a Tuesday meeting, Rossiisky Kredit invited Menatep, Inkombank, Uneximbank, the International Financial Company (MFK) and Alfa Bank to form a consortium and distribute among themselves the auctioned shares of Norilsk Nickel, Sidanko and Yukos, according to a Rossiisky Kredit statement.


The idea behind the proposal is to pool the resources of cash-strapped banks, a Rossiisky Kredit spokesman said Wednesday.


"Russian banks have little capital in comparison to other banks in the world," said a member of the bank's press service, who declined to be identified. "Therefore if there is a consortium it will be easier to organize investment projects."


None of the participants at the meeting has accepted or rejected the idea. Representatives of Alfa-Bank and Uneximbank declined to comment Wednesday.


Last week, 78 percent of the shares of oil giant Yukos were awarded to a company closely associated with Menatep, and 51 percent of Sidanko to MFK, which is linked to Uneximbank. Uneximbank, in turn, won 38 percent of the shares of Norilsk Nickel last month.


Rossiisky Kredit's offer for Norilsk Nickel -- more than twice Uneximbank's $170.1 million winning bid -- was rejected by the State Property Committee on the grounds of inadequate financial guarantees. The bank's joint bid with Inkombank and Menatep for Yukos was turned down for technical reasons.


The Rossiisky Kredit statement said that of the auctioned shares in Norilsk Nickel, Yukos and Sidanko -- three of Russia's prime blue-chip companies -- 24 percent would be earmarked to be sold to "other investors."


The bank spokesman did not rule out that foreign investors could bid for the shares.


But under the loans-for-shares program, foreigners are not permitted to buy shares in the enterprises for an unspecified period of time. Vladimir Sokolov, chairman of the State Property Fund, said Wednesday that if formed, the consortium could not sell the 24 percent to foreigners, but it could include up to 25 percent of foreign capital in its venture, according to the law.


Under the plan, the shares would be divided equally among the six banks. The bank's statement was vaguely worded, calling for the consortium to actually own the shares.


"There are some discrepancies there," the bank's press spokesman said. "But according to the facts, the shares are not sold yet."