"We have to give back to the Russian economy its true scale and its place in the world"
The head of the Russian Audit Chamber, Sergei Stepashin said that over the next 4-5 years the capitalization of the Russian economy may increase to $5-6 trillion.
Speaking on an investor conference, organized by the Renaissance Capital investment company, he noted that the capitalization of the U.S. economy amounts to $14 trillion. This means that with capitalization of $5-6 trillion Russia will be able to become a full member of the G-8.
Stepashin added that for such a change it is necessary to conduct a re-evaluation of the assets of Russian companies, and to conduct a recapitalization of national assets.
?We have to give back to the Russian economy its true scale and its place in the world,? the official was quoted by RIA Novosti. At the present time the capitalization of the Russian economy is estimated to be approximately $350 billion.
The head of the Russian Audit Chamber said that in the course of privatization a ?large-scale devaluation of national wealth? took place. At the beginning of the privatization process, which took place in the 1990s, the property was not categorized and no audit was made.
?This meant they could be evaluated regardless of their real value and then huge pieces of these assets could be transferred to offshore funds,? Stepashin said. ?Today we have to really evaluate the country?s national wealth, to really evaluate the price of the assets, to take them out of offshores and to solve the problem of filling the state budget.?
