Sorry Medvedev. Putin Won't Sell Off Sberbank

In an opinion editorial in The Moscow Times, Kim Iskyan, formerly a hedge fund manager and securities analyst in Moscow, says that although recently outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev began to lay the groundwork for the state to surrender its controlling stakes in state banks, President-elect Vladimir Putin won’t allow this sell-off to happen. If anything, state control over the banking sector is likely to increase, continuing a long-term trend. The article argues that although even the Kremlin recognises that self-sufficiency in financing is an absurd objective, Putin wants to ensure that state banks will be able to take care of their own if the need arises.