Analytics, Baltic States – CIS, Financial Services, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Russia

"If they managed to achieve some success, at least a partial success, and sell one or another tastier asset to foreigners (not Russians), the investor community could treat this as a certain sign of recognition or a partial recovery of confidence," he told the website.

Nauseda backs the position of Vladimir Milov, president of the Institute of Energy Policy in Moscow, that selling companies to plug holes in the budget would only be a short-term goal.

"In the long-term, the most important thing is to achieve completely different management and at least partially refocus the entire state sector to commercial operations," he said.

The economist added that a key aspect in this process would be bringing in foreign capital that could help change the local culture.