FT reports Putin issued secret decree to buy Western assets at ‘significant discount’

Vladimir Putin has instructed lawmakers to draft legislation that would give the state priority rights to purchase the assets of Western companies who leave the Russian market at a “significant discount,” The Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing a secret presidential decree.

The assets will presumably be resold to Russian companies, and the profits from the deals added to the state budget, according to the newspaper. Insiders familiar with the discussion said that the government’s economic bloc is discussing these and other “draconian” measures, including the complete nationalization of companies, as it seeks to soften the blow of Western sanctions.

The Financial Times called the prospect of nationalization part of Moscow’s “carrot-and-stick approach aimed at punishing western countries that seize Russian assets while rewarding those that play by the Kremlin’s rules.”

Businessmen who spoke to the outlet said that nationalization is “inevitable” and is only a question of time since “the state will need money.”