Whole—to-private: revenues from privatization have doubled the annual plan
By April, revenues from privatization had already doubled the plan for the whole of 2025, the Federal Property Management Agency told Izvestia. In the first quarter, the budget received 9.5 billion under this item, compared to 5.5 billion allocated for 12 months. Moreover, small enterprises were sold to private ownership — for example, an exhibition complex in Bashkiria or the Quartz clay mining plant in the Yaroslavl region. At the same time, Anton Siluanov, the head of the Ministry of Finance, has already announced a "big privatization", from which it is planned to receive 100 billion rubles this year alone. Which state corporations may fall under it is described in the Izvestia article.
Privatization of property in 2025
According to the results of the first quarter of 2025, the privatization of federal property brought over 9.5 billion rubles to the budget, the press service of the Federal Property Management Agency told Izvestia. In total, the financial plan for privatization in 2025 includes half the amount of 5.5 billion rubles.
The Federal Property Management Agency did not specify which companies it was talking about, but noted that the bulk of the funds came from the sale of corporate assets (and not, for example, state property such as transport or land). Moreover, most of the money (8.5 billion) came from the sale of previously confiscated and other state-owned property, the Accounting Chamber clarified to Izvestia.
The press service of the Ministry of Finance added that federally owned shares in the authorized capitals of 40 business entities were sold.
The budget managed to make money on many small transactions at once. For example, the authorities of the Yaroslavl region sold three objects this year, including shares of the Quartz clay mining company and two architectural monuments — the Pastukhov commercial building and the wing of the Polushkin estate. These transactions brought 200 million rubles to the region.
In addition, the Moscow firm Stalox became the owner of the Bashkortostan exhibition complex for 53 million, and the Tavros agro-industrial group acquired 25% + 1 share of Bugulminsky Elevator.
The government traditionally prefers to make not too optimistic income forecasts, which are difficult to predict, including privatization, explained Vladimir Klimanov, director of the IPEI Regional Policy Center at the Presidential Academy. For comparison, last year, revenues from privatization amounted to 132 billion, with only 1.2 billion initially included in the plan.
Each transaction is individual: it is impossible to accurately predict the value of an enterprise at the stage of sale, said Vladimir Klimanov. According to the three-year privatization plan (Izvestia has studied it), it provides for the sale of about 28 thousand objects of state treasury property.
The government is guided by conservative forecasts so that there are not too large gaps between revenues and expenditures, agrees Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global. However, it's easy to exceed the plan: just a few big deals are enough.
Which companies can be sold into private hands in 2025
Although a relatively small amount is officially included in the financial plan, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov himself stated that Russia needs "big privatization" and the agency is preparing its proposals in this regard. According to the head of the department, this year revenues from the sale of property are expected to amount to 100 billion rubles.
Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov
— Now the authorities have managed to realize only a tenth of their real expectations — 9.5 billion rubles. But in such a situation, there should be no doubt that the plans will come true, because the dynamics of privatization transactions are unevenly distributed throughout the year, and a number of companies have not yet passed the stage of so—called nationalization, which, in fact, forms the future asset fund for sale, - says independent expert Andrei Barkhota.
"Big privatization" may involve not only the sale of corporate assets, but also the listing of large state corporations on the stock exchange through the placement of shares and their sale to individuals.
President Vladimir Putin has set the goal of increasing the capitalization of stock markets to two-thirds of GDP by 2030, and therefore the Ministry of Finance is considering increasing the volume of public offerings of shares of state-owned companies to 1 trillion rubles through both the IPO of organizations and the placement of shares owned by the state on the stock exchange, Anton Siluanov recalled..
He added: this year, the ministry intends to bring the state corporation Dom to the IPO.Russian Federation" in the amount of at least 15 billion rubles.
In addition, Russian Railways, Rosatom, Rostelecom, Rostec and Transneft may be considered as potential candidates for "big privatization", thanks to which the state can reduce its share in such companies, Olga Belenkaya, head of the Macroeconomic Analysis Department at Finam Federal State Enterprise, said. The cable car of the Rosa Khutor ski resort and the Benat Tyumen alcohol factory are also currently up for auction.
Why does the state privatize property
The state is interested in keeping only strategically important enterprises owned and managed, Olga Belenkaya noted. At the same time, privatization brings additional revenues to the budget, which can partially compensate for the reduction in the liquid part of the NWF.
— However, if the treasury is replenished with only a few hundred billion a year, then this is not such a lot of money for the budget. In addition, the proceeds from the sale of property are often of a one-time nature. And the Ministry of Finance can constantly receive dividends from assets in state ownership," the expert believes.
Nevertheless, if the government decides to make the Russian Railways company public, then the budget may receive funds estimated not in billions, but even in trillions of rubles, Natalia Milchakova from Freedom Finance Global believes.
In addition, the sale of non—controlling stakes in large state corporations to private hands will attract additional investments in their business and increase the efficiency of their activities - and this is especially important, the expert emphasized. In addition, thanks to privatization, capitalization and interest in the stock market are increasing, private investments are attracted there, Olga Belenkaya added.
However, for successful privatization, first of all, it is necessary to reduce the level of risks for private business, the expert believes. We are talking about the incompleteness of the information provided about the facility — many enterprises are now hiding some important information for investors, arguing this is protection from sanctions.
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