Head of Russia's crime agency suggests nationalising key parts of economy

Reuters

Published May 13, 2023 16:32

Updated May 13, 2023 17:40

(Reuters) - The head of Russia's federal crime agency on Saturday suggested that key sectors of the economy should be returned to state ownership to support Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Moscow has already seized assets or acquired them at a heavy discount from some Western firms that have quit Russia or scaled back their activities since the invasion.

"We are essentially talking about economic security in a war," Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, told a conference that was streamed online. "Let's go along the path of nationalising the main sectors of our economy."

It was an unusual foray into economic policy for Bastrykin, who reports directly to President Vladimir Putin.

Russia conducted wide-ranging and often chaotic privatisations in the 1990s, after the collapse of the communist Soviet Union.

Some of the state's most valuable assets ended up in the hands of so-called oligarchs, many of whom subsequently sold their firms or were forced to cede control back to the state under Putin.

Russia's economy and government coffers rely heavily on production of oil, gas and metals.