THE RUSSIAN government this week hired Dresdner Kleinwort Benson to advise on and evaluate the privatisation of the largest state-owned oil company in the country, Rosneft. Analysts greeted the announcement of this mandate as evidence that the Russian privatisation programme would henceforth be run transparently. Even last year, the government was accused of cronyism, in particular that it was favouring local banks and industrialists. Analysts claimed it was not maximising its sale proceeds as a result.
March 06, 1998