Kremlin considers helping companies that have been hit by US sanctions
The Press Secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov commented on the proposal of the Head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin to temporarily nationalize Rusal, a Russian company that fell under US sanctions.
Peskov noted that the Cabinet of Ministers, on behalf of Chairman of the Government Dmitry Medvedev, is engaged in providing possible support to companies who are faced with the pressure of the sanctions. He noted that this topic is "governmental."
"You know that in the expert community there are various points of view now on how to help [the sanctioned] companies. This is one of them,” RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.
Peskov also noted that in this case, it is necessary to take into account the opinions of companies' shareholders and owners, and the government's capabilities. "Therefore, in this case we are talking about one of the points of view, which are now being actively discussed," he said, referring to the initiative voiced by Shokhin.
"But, as far as I know, there are still no ready-made scenarios, ready-made support formulas, which is understandable," Peskov added. Shares of Rusal traded at historic lows earlier this week.
On April 9, Rusal warned about the risk of a technical default due to US sanctions, after which the company's shares fell 46.9%. Fitch has withdrawn the company’s ratings and will review them for possible downgrade.