Russia not discussing Rostelecom privatization scheme

Russia’s government is not discussing any schemes to sell telecom major Rostelecom, Russian Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov said on Thursday in the sidelines of the Petersburg International Economic Forum. “No such schemes are being discussed now,” he said. According to the minister, the government is not considering the sale of the government-own stake in Rostelecom to the Big Three Russian telecom operators. “There are no such plans,” Nikiforov said. On Wednesday, a number of Russian mass media reported that the cabinet of minister was about to offer more than 50-percent stake in Russia’s biggest telecommunications operator to its rivals - MTS, Megaphone, and Vimpelcom, thus barring foreign investors from taking part in the deal. The government plans to completely withdraw from Rostelecom shareholders by the end of 2014. On Thursday, the Russian government plans to consider privatization plans for 2014-2016.