Russian government ownership of various companies and organizations, collectively known as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), still play an important role in the national economy. The approximately 4,100 enterprises that have some degree of state ownership accounted for 39% of all employment in 2007 (down from over 80% in 1990). [1] [2] In 2007, SOEs controlled 64% of the banking sector, 47% of the oil and gas sector, and 37% of the utility sector. [2]
State corporations are established by the Russian government to boost industrial sectors. [3] Rosstat figures show that 529,300 enterprises are partly or wholly owned by the state, of which between 30,000 and 31,000 are commercial companies (generating revenue). [4] The 54 largest enterprises account for over two-thirds of the total revenues generated by state-owned organizations. [4] SOEs account for 40% of the capitalization on the Russian stock market, one of the highest shares in the world. [4]
Russian state-owned companies are typically established under the legal form of joint stock companies (OAO or ZAO), unitary enterprises (federal, regional or municipal), or state corporations. [2]
OAO and PAO are forms of open joint-stock companies, while ZAO (and AO) are closed joint-stock companies. [5] [6]
The Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo) is authorized by the Russian government to exercise shareholder rights for federally-owned shares in companies and is responsible for the preparation and nomination of candidates at the annual meetings of shareholders. As a general rule, Rosimushchestvo nominates to a company's board of directors representatives of the most relevant government body, based on the sectoral characteristics of the business. The sectoral state body thus participates in managing the company through its representatives. [7]
A state corporation (Russian: государственная корпорация) defined by Article 7.1 of NCO Law is a non-profit organization which manages its assets as described in its charter. State Corporations are not obliged to submit to public authorities documents accounting for activities (except for a number of documents submitted to the Russian government) and, as a rule, are subordinate not to the government, but to the Russian president, and act to accomplish some important goal. Control by the Government is implemented on the basis of annual corporation meetings, an annual report on the audit opinion of accounting and financial reporting (accounting), as well as the conclusion of the auditing commission on the results of verification of financial (accounting) statements and other corporation documents. Any other central government departments, organs of state power of subjects of the Russian Federation, and the local governments have no right to interfere in the activities of State corporations.
These state corporations (a non-profit) establishing under a Russian federal law are different from all the other organizations referred to in the mass media as "state corporations". According to the law, a state corporation is wholly owned by the Russian Federation directly, bypassing the Federal Agency for State Property Management.
A state company (Russian: Государственная компания) defined by Article 7.2 of NCO Law is a non-membership non-profit organization. Each state company is created by a separate Russian federal law.
These state companies (a non-profit) establishing only under a federal law are different from all the other organizations referred to in the mass media as "state companies".
A unitary enterprise (Russian: унитарное предприятие) is a commercial organization that have no ownership rights to the assets used in their operations. This form is possible only for state and municipal enterprises, operating with state or municipal property, respectively. The owners of the property of a unitary enterprise have no responsibility for its operation, and vice versa.
The assets of unitary enterprises belong to the central government (in which case they are known as federal state unitary enterprises), a Russian region, or a municipality. A unitary enterprise holds assets under the right of economic management (for both state and municipal unitary enterprises) or operative management (for state unitary enterprises only), and that such assets may not be distributed among the participants, nor otherwise divided. A unitary enterprise is independent in economic issues and obliged only to give its profits to the state. Unitary enterprises would have no right to set up subsidiaries, but, with the owner's consent, can open branches and representation offices.
As of January 2017, there are 1,120 federal state unitary enterprises in Russia. [8]
Information on the legal form of companies is drawn from the open-data portal of the Federal Agency for State Property Management, [9] unless otherwise stated.
Company | Type | Industry | State ownership |
---|---|---|---|
Aeroflot | OAO | Airline | 51.173% [9] |
All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company | Federal SUE | Broadcasting | |
Almaz-Antey | ZAO | Aerospace & Defense | 100% [9] |
ALROSA | PAO | Mining | 43.9256% [9] |
Arkaim | OOO | Airline | |
Atomflot | Federal SUE | Shipping | |
AvtoVAZ | State corporation | Automotive | 100% |
Bazalt | AO | Defense | |
Channel One Russia | AO | Broadcasting | 38.9% [9] |
Deposit Insurance Agency of Russia | State corporation | Deposit insurance | 100% |
EZAN | Federal SUE | Telecommunication | |
FGC UES | OAO | Energy | 75% |
Gazprom | PAO | Oil and gas | 50.23% |
Gazprom Neft | OAO | Oil and gas | |
Inter RAO | PAO | Electricity | |
Kamaz | AO | Automotive | |
Krasnaya Zvezda State Enterprise | AO | Nuclear power | |
Krylov State Research Center | Federal SUE | Shipbuilding | |
Mayak | Federal SUE | Nuclear energy | |
Mining and Chemical Combine | Federal SUE | Mining | |
Moscow Metro | Regional SUE | Transport | |
Mosenergo | OAO | Electricity | |
Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port | OAO | Shipping | 20.0001% [9] |
Oboronprom | AO | Aerospace | |
Research and Development Institute of Mechanical Engineering | Federal SUE | Rocket engines | |
RIA Novosti | Federal SUE | News agency | disestablished in 2014 |
Rosatom | State corporation | Nuclear energy | 100% |
Roscosmos | State corporation | Space | 100% |
Rosenergoatom | AO | Nuclear power operation | |
Rosneft | OAO | Oil and gas | 50% |
Rosselkhozbank | AO | Banking | 71.9873% [9] |
Rosseti | PAO | Electric Power | 88% |
Rossiya Airlines | AO | Aviation | |
Rostec | State corporation | Mixed | 100% |
Rostelecom | OAO | Telecommunications | 56.8% |
Ruselectronics | AO | Microelectronics | |
RusHydro | OAO | Electric utility | 60.4% |
Rusnano | OAO | Nanotechnology | 100% [9] |
Russian Agricultural Bank | AO | Infrastructure | 72.4% |
Russian Highways | State corporation | Infrastructure | 100% |
Russian Post | AO | Letter post | 100% |
Russian Railways | PAO | Infrastructure | 100% |
Russian Satellite Communications Company | Federal SUE | Telecommunications | |
Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS) | Federal SUE | Transmission towers | |
Sberbank of Russia | PAO | Banking | 51% (owned by the Central Bank) |
Sevmash | AO | Shipbuilding | 48.4966% [9] |
Sovcomflot | PAO | Shipping | 100% [9] |
Soyuzmultfilm | Federal SUE | Animation studio | |
TASS | Federal SUE | News agency | |
Tactical Missiles Corporation | AO | Defense | 100% |
Techsnabexport | OAO | Nuclear energy | |
Transneft | OAO | Oil and gas | 100% |
United Aircraft Corporation | PAO | Aerospace | 91.11514696% [9] |
United Engine Corporation | AO | Aerospace | |
United Grain Company | AO | Trading | 50% |
United Shipbuilding Corporation | AO | Shipbuilding | 100% [9] |
Uralvagonzavod | AO | Defense | 100% [9] |
Vnesheconombank | State corporation | Financial services | 100% |
VTB Bank | PAO | Banking | 60.9% |
Since the first waves of privatization in the 1990s, the Russian government has sold stakes in several companies, often while continuing to hold a significant degree of ownership. In 2016 this included the sale 10.9% of Alrosa, [10] and 19.5% of Rosneft. [11] Privatization plans for the 2017-2019 period include selling stakes in VTB (10.9%), Sovcomflot (25% minus 1 share), and Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port. [12]
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products. It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goods at lower prices, implement government policies, or serve remote areas where private businesses are scarce. The government typically holds full or majority ownership and oversees operations. SOEs have a distinct legal structure, with financial and developmental goals, like making services more accessible while earning profit. They can be considered as government-affiliated entities designed to meet commercial and state capitalist objectives.
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public company can be listed on a stock exchange, which facilitates the trade of shares, or not. In some jurisdictions, public companies over a certain size must be listed on an exchange. In most cases, public companies are private enterprises in the private sector, and "public" emphasizes their reporting and trading on the public markets.
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infrastructure, public transit, public education, along with health care and those working for the government itself, such as elected officials. The public sector might provide services that a non-payer cannot be excluded from, services which benefit all of society rather than just the individual who uses the service. Public enterprises, or state-owned enterprises, are self-financing commercial enterprises that are under public ownership which provide various private goods and services for sale and usually operate on a commercial basis.
State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownership specifically refers to industries selling goods and services to consumers and differs from public goods and government services financed out of a government's general budget. Public ownership can take place at the national, regional, local, or municipal levels of government; or can refer to non-governmental public ownership vested in autonomous public enterprises. Public ownership is one of the three major forms of property ownership, differentiated from private, collective/cooperative, and common ownership.
The socialist market economy (SME) is the economic system and model of economic development employed in the People's Republic of China. The system is a market economy with the predominance of public ownership and state-owned enterprises. The term "socialist market economy" was introduced by Jiang Zemin during the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1992 to describe the goal of China's economic reforms.
A unitary enterprise is a government-owned corporation in Russia and some other post-Soviet states. Unitary enterprises are business entities that have no ownership rights to the assets that they use in their operations. This form is possible only for state and municipal enterprises, which respectively operate state or municipal property. The owners of the property of a unitary enterprise have no responsibility for its operation and vice versa.
State Corporation is a non-membership non-commercial organization, a type of legal entity in Russia introduced in 1999. Each state corporation is created by a separate Russian federal law.
National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but also to "advance the interests of the nation"; the government sets policies which favor these organizations. The policy is practiced by many governments, in some sectors more than others, but by giving an unfair advantage against market competition, the policy promotes economic nationalism domestically and global pre-eminence abroad contrary to the free market. The policy also deters or prevents venture capitalism.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) is a special commission of the People's Republic of China, directly under the State Council. It was founded in 2003 through the consolidation of various other industry-specific ministries. SASAC is responsible for managing state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including appointing top executives and approving any mergers or sales of stock or assets, as well as drafting laws related to SOEs.
Privatization in Russia describes the series of post-Soviet reforms that resulted in large-scale privatization of Russia's state-owned assets, particularly in the industrial, energy, and financial sectors. Most privatization took place in the early and mid-1990s under Boris Yeltsin, who assumed the presidency following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
There are three types of business entity in Russia: private limited companies, joint-stock companies, which may either be public, open (OJSC) or private, closed (PJSC), and partnerships.
Privatization is the process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency, charity or public service from the public sector or common use to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations. In a broader sense, privatization refers to transfer of any government function to the private sector - including governmental functions like revenue collection and law enforcement.
Rostec, formally trading as State Corporation "Rostec", fully the State Corporation for the Promotion of the Development, Manufacture, and Export of High Tech Products "Rostec" and formerly Rostekhnologii, is a Russian state-owned defense conglomerate headquartered in Moscow.
Social ownership is a type of property where an asset is recognized to be in the possession of society as a whole rather than individual members or groups within it. Social ownership of the means of production is the defining characteristic of a socialist economy, and can take the form of community ownership, state ownership, common ownership, employee ownership, cooperative ownership, and citizen ownership of equity. Within the context of socialist economics it refers particularly to the appropriation of the surplus product produced by the means of production to society at large or the workers themselves. Traditionally, social ownership implied that capital and factor markets would cease to exist under the assumption that market exchanges within the production process would be made redundant if capital goods were owned and integrated by a single entity or network of entities representing society. However, the articulation of models of market socialism where factor markets are utilized for allocating capital goods between socially owned enterprises broadened the definition to include autonomous entities within a market economy.
A state-owned enterpriseof China is a legal entity that undertakes commercial activities on behalf of an owner government.
In South Africa the Department of Public Enterprises is the shareholder representative of the South African Government with oversight responsibility for state-owned enterprises in key sectors. Some companies are not directly controlled by the Department of Public Enterprises, but by various other departments. Further, not all state owned entities are registered as companies.
Investment Corporation of Dubai is the principal investment arm of the Government of Dubai focused on strengthening Dubai’s economy through long-term value and wealth creation and investing in global opportunities. Established in 2006, ICD manages the Government of Dubai Portfolio of commercial companies and investments. In 2022, ICD reported assets worth $320 billion and revenue of $73 billion. The Dubai-based corporation provides strategic oversight, develops and implements investment strategies and corporate governance policies, and operates in multiple sectors, including oil and gas, transportation, banking, and financial services.