"Rosspirtprom votes for government plans to have its organisational and legal status changed. State ownership is by all means restricting its investment prospects. Borrowed money as an investment resource turns out to be too dear for the development of the production base," said the company's director-general Pyotr Myasoedov.
He believes that re-structuring will create no problems with inverstors.
"I know from my own experience that many would like to participate in alcohol-linked projects. Vodka is a huge and stable consumer market," he added.
At a government session this Thursday, Agriculture Minister Alexey Gordeev said his ministry suggested including Rosspirtprom into a list of enterprises to be privatised. Minister for Economic Development and Trade German Gref said his ministry would comply with this request and the enterprise would be included into a list for next year's privatisation if the agriculture ministry submitted required documents within two weeks.
Rosspirtprom, set up in May 200, received from the state all the federally-owned shares of liquor plants and dispensaries under its operational management, thus transforming 19 state-run unitarian companies into Rosspirtprom branches.
Rosspirtprom operational management now spreads to government-owned shareholdings of 107 joint-stock companies uniting more than 200 dispensaries of Russia. The value of these shareholding varies from controlling blocks to several percent interest. Rosspirtprom handling up to 60 percent of national alcohol production and about 40 percent of liquor plants is the country's largest manufacturer of alcohol and liquors.
