A closed meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs is scheduled for June 25, at which the situation arising in connection with the letter from the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Arkady Volsky, to the president will be discussed. As the daily newspaper GAZETA notes , for most members of the RUIE bureau, the letter written on their behalf and initiated by the head of Basic Element, Oleg Deripaska, turned out to be a surprise.

According to the publication, a letter outlining a number of measures to improve the investment climate in Russia was brought to the president on June 9 by Volsky and Deripaska. His main idea concerned the “unconventional use” of the reserves of the Central Bank of Russia. The letter, as GAZETA writes, noted that currently gold and foreign exchange reserves play a passive role as a “shock absorber in case of unexpected deterioration in the foreign economic situation.” Instead, the authors proposed attracting Central Bank resources “to invest in the creation and acquisition of large production facilities in Russia and abroad.”

According to the publication, the proposal received formal support from the president: Vladimir Putin wrote in Volsky’s letter a resolution for Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov: “I ask you to consider it and order it to be presented in the form of draft decisions.”

As it turned out, most members of the RSPP Bureau did not even know about the preparation of the document. Many of them, in particular the head of the United Machine-Building Plants Kakha Bendukidze, the former head of Metalloinvest Oleg Kiselev, the head of RAO UES of Russia Anatoly Chubais and a member of the RUIE bureau Alexander Shokhin, expressed disagreement with the clause on Central Bank reserves.

However, most of all the entrepreneurs were outraged by the fact that Deripaska presented his ideas on behalf of the entire RSPP. “Again, Deripaska got carried away with his PR campaigns. He could have addressed the addressee directly, but he did it on our behalf. This is causing a negative reaction,” one of the bureau members, who wished to remain anonymous, told GAZETA.

At the same time, Oleg Kiselev refused to comment, and representatives of Kakha Bendukidze said that he would make a statement no earlier than June 25, the day when the bureau meeting was scheduled. “However, this is not surprising, because this scandal calls into question the very existence of the RUIE as a single collegial body for civilized communication between business and government,” GAZETA notes.

The RSPP Bureau will discuss Deripaska’s “arbitrariness”