/ world today news/ Summoned 41 of the richest to a secret dinner in the Kremlin, ordered to invest 10 billion dollars to strengthen the economy
Russian President Vladimir Putin gathered 41 of Russia’s richest people in the Kremlin on Friday evening, who are on the Forbes billionaires list, Russian media reported. At the dinner, the oligarchs discussed with the Russian leader how to save the Russian economy. After an initial information blackout, yesterday the media published more details about the nature of Putin’s conversations with the oligarchs. The main topic of the meeting was how to support the Russian economy under pressure from sanctions and, in particular, how to stop the collapse of the ruble. Putin called on the oligarchs to start selling dollars and euros in portions on the stock exchange, Gazeta.Ru reported. The authorities promise to take measures to avoid panic on the stock exchange when exchanging currencies, the president promised. The super rich were advised to sell on the stock exchange the foreign currency received from the export of goods of their companies abroad.
The launch of the currency exchange by Russian exporters was one of the elements of the anti-crisis plan of the Russian government in 1998, experts remind.
According to a government source quoted by Vgil.Ru, the oligarchs are asked to release about 10 billion dollars on the market within two to three weeks. However, according to other sources, the necessary amount to support the ruble, which has lost 2.5 of its value since the beginning of 2014, will require no less than 20-30 billion dollars.
In arranging the table in the Kremlin, the alphabetical approach was chosen so that no one would be offended, so Alexander Abramov and German Khan were closest to Putin. Vladimir Potanin, Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Prokhorov and Vagit Alekperov, Dmitry Ananiev, Mikhail Prokhorov, Vladimir Potanin, Alexei Mordashov, Oleg Deripaska and others were also at the table. Of the businessmen close to the president, only Gennady Timchenko was invited. Businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who was released the day before from house arrest due to charges of money laundering, who is one of the richest Russians, also arrived for the meeting.
The address to the guests of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov is indicative of the atmosphere of the dinner. Welcoming those who came to the Kremlin, he called them “our friends for many years”. “In recent years, we have not taken any important steps in the economy without consulting business,” Putin said. He assured the oligarchs that this trend would continue in the future.
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