External management of Unipro and Fortum shares protects Russian assets

Sergey Kondratiev, Principal Director on Economic Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the TASS news agency on introducing external management in companies controlled by foreign shareholders from unfriendly countries.

The decision is caused by the current uncertainty around these companies, Sergey Kondratiev believes.

"Foreign owners have largely removed themselves from the management of Russian assets, which creates uncertainty - for consumers, for company employees, and for the regulator," he said.

Such a decision with respect to other foreign assets is likely to affect strategically important companies, that work in infrastructure industries, and in which a foreign shareholder from an unfriendly country has a controlling stake, and his decisions may lead, for example, to a significant deterioration in the operational performance of companies, Kondratiev says.

"There are not very many such companies in Russia, so I would not expect a noticeable increase in this list," the expert assured.