SINGAPORE, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - One trillion rubles ($35 billion) were needed to transform Russia's national development bank Vnesheconombank from a state corporation into a joint-stock company, the bank's chief said on Saturday.
In his state-of-the-nation address to both houses of parliament on Thursday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that state corporations had outlived their usefulness, had no future and should be reorganized and later privatized.
"To this end we must increase the bank's capital by slightly more than one trillion rubles, according to our estimates," VEB chief Vladimir Dmitriev told journalists.
Government corporations were established under the presidency of Vladimir Putin to exercise the powers of the government in certain areas of the economy.
At present there are seven state corporations in Russia - Vnesheconombank (VEB), Russian Technology (Rostekhnologii), Rosnano, the Deposit Insurance Agency (ASV), the Fund for Reforming the Housing and Utilities Sector, the Rosatom nuclear power corporation, and Olimpstroi, which is building facilities for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
In addition, a law was passed in July on the establishment of a state company, Russian Highways (Avtodor), to develop the country's highway network.
