As a result of privatization in Russia, tens of thousands of state-owned enterprises - from small retail shops to major industrial enterprises - have been transformed into privately owned companies. Millions of Russian citizens became owners.The privatization is guided by the special government program which operates on different administrative levels: federal, regional and municipal. The authorities on any given level are authorized to privatize only those assets transferred to their ownership.Large-scale privatizationBy July 1994, 15,052 medium and large enterprises, employing more than 80% of the industrial workforce, had been privatized in a voucher-based privatization scheme. The second (post-voucher), cash-based phase of privatization is under way now. Government blocks of shares will be sold primarily to strategic investors in special investment tenders. The list of strategic enterprises, including energy, defence and utilities, majority state ownership is to be retained for at least two to three years. In the second stage of privatization, enterprises will be able to buy the land and buildings they are associated with.Farm privatization has made limited progress so far. More than 80% of agricultural land is owned by large farms with some form of collective ownership and 10% remains state property. Only 6% is in the hands of private farmers and urban dwellers with small household plots own 4%. Property rights over agricultural land remain subject to heavy restrictions.Small-scale privatizationBy the end of 1995 more than 100,000 state-owned small-scale businesses (with less than 200 employees) had been transferred to private hands. The overwhelming majority of these were in the retail trade, public catering and consumer services sector, where private entities account for 80% of activity.The size of the private sectorThe non-state sector, including all corporatized enterprises irrespective of the share of state ownership, accoun...
