The Commission meeting, chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, considered the list of strategic enterprises that need government support.

The Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina told journalists after the meeting that there were more than 250 such companies. "Today we discussed the criteria and the list of key organisations and the procedure of work with them," the Minister said. "The list contains more than 250 companies and we are finalising it. We had two lists, one with the companies in mono-cities and the other by sector," she added. According to Ms Nabiullina the list will be posted on the websites of the Government and the Ministry of Economic Development on Wednesday.

The Minister noted that "it is an open-ended list, which may be adjusted". The list includes the companies that need "close attention" on the part of the Government. "It is not a guarantee of government assistance, but such assistance will be forthcoming if necessary," Ms Nabiullina explained. "During the week we will agree the list of regional enterprises with the regional authorities," she announced. She did not rule out that if necessary regional enterprises would be discussed at the federal level. The list includes enterprises in practically all the sectors, she said.

The Minister of Economic Development recalled that the Government may take comprehensive measures with regard to the enterprises that are in financial straits. "It can be state guarantees of loans, interest rate subsidies, support by awarding federal, regional and municipal orders and other measures under the financial rehabilitation programme," Ms Nabiullina said. She also noted that buying into the enterprise's capital was among the financial rehabilitation measures.