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— Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that an increase in state ownership was inevitable in some sectors of the economy hurt by the global downturn, but promised it would be short-lived.
Speaking at a packed investment forum in St. Petersburg, Medvedev also suggested that the world economic crisis that has hammered Russia has reached its peak.
Russia is using the economic forum to convince investors that the country's economy has stabilized and that Russia remains a good place for foreign investment.
The Russian government has long controlled sectors of the economy deemed to be strategic, such as oil, transport and car manufacturing.
Since the crisis broke last year, the Kremlin has bailed out some major conglomerates that were highly leveraged, accepting shares as collateral in exchange for loans. Several mid-sized banks were also rescued by the government last year.
Those moves have worried investors who fear the government ownership will lead to inefficiency and corruption.
Medvedev appeared Friday to try to assuage those concerns.
"State ownership in most of the sectors of the economy should be viewed as an inevitable but a short-term solution," Medvedev said.
Russia's worst economic downturn in a decade has been driven by tumbling oil prices, a weakening ruble and a flight of capital to safer havens.
