MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2021) Russia's republic of Bashkiria is set to receive 38.3 percent shares of the contested Bashkir Soda Company (BSC), with other 11.7 percent allocated to organizations subordinate to the regional government, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday.
The BSC was established in 2013 after a merger of a public joint-stock company, where the Bashkir government owned 61.65 percent of shares, with another one, where the majority of shares belonged to a Cypriot-owned private company.
In August 2020, President Putin requested an inquiry into the erosion of state shares within the BSC from the initial 61.65 percent to 38.28 percent amid public backlash over the company's mining project in a culturally significant location. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office found privatization law violations in the process of alienation of state shares in the BSC.
"As you are aware, the court ruled that about 96 percent of the company's shares should be transferred to the Russian Federation. It is important to ensure the long-term efficient operation of the company and the release of competitive products. This, of course, is always extremely important, but today particularly so, as it pertains the preservation of jobs, ensuring people receive their salaries," Putin said at the meeting with government members.
The president stressed that the key issue would be efficient management of the company, noting that the government made all necessary decisions for that.
"I ask the government to transfer 38.3 percent of the shares of the Bashkir Soda Company to the Republic of Bashkortostan, in fact, this is the amount Bashkiria owned previously. Besides, there are another 11.7 percent plus one share, as we agreed, including with the republic's authorities, and I request their transfer to trust management structures that are under the full control of the republic's government," Putin stated.
According to Putin, this would mean that the republic can fully manage the Bashkir Soda Company with the controlling stake, while the 57.7 percent of shares would remain in federal ownership.
The 95.72 percent shares ordered by the court to be transferred to the government were deposited to the account of the Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo) in March 2021.
