RF govt to need Rbl 40 bln to support strategic civilian enterprises

MOSCOW. April 14. KAZINFORM The Russian government will need 40 billion roubles to subsidise strategic civilian enterprises, Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko said; Kazinform refers to ITAR-TASS.

?If we look at the list of strategic enterprises in the civilian sector, the amount of subsidies that may be needed is quite big. It?s about 40 billion roubles,? Khristenko said on Monday. The government earlier provided 15 billion roubles for defence enterprises. The government has already distributed all funds intended for the support of export in 2009. ?The amount for 2009 is 6,135 million roubles, and we have made the decision for the whole of it,? the minister said. ?We have virtually paid 3.5 billion roubles by April 15, and we will completely settle this issue in April and early May,? he added. He said most of the subsidies would go to the automobile industry and shipbuilding. Khristenko did not rule out that the amount of funds earmarked for the support of export in 2009 might be increased. The Russian Ministry of Economic Development has called for creating an export insurance agency in order to support export operations. "An expanded meeting will be held in the ministry shortly to discuss mechanisms for supporting export and, possibly, for creating an export insurance agency. We will discuss that Vnesheconombank," Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina said earlier. She believes it "necessary to accelerate this work at a time of crisis in order to support enterprises that can find niches for advancing their products to foreign markets". At the same time, the minister noted that it would not be advisable to create a special agency for attracting foreign investments into Russia because these functions were performed by her ministry. "Besides, there the Foreign Investment Advisory Council," she added. The government will provide six billion roubles for the support of export in 2009. "That's not a large amount but it is bigger than in 2008," the minister said. "We will look at how this money is used. If this programme proves effective and is used by our enterprises in 2009, we may increase it in 2010," Nabiullina said; Kazinform cites ITAR-TASS. Full version can be found at www.itar-tass.com