Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called on Monday for the state to reduce its "unnecessary presence" in the economy.
"It is necessary to reduce the unnecessary presence of the state in the economy and the excessive scale of government property, to expand the space for private initiative," Putin said during a joint meeting of the Economic Development and Finance Ministries on Monday.
He said it was necessary to pull down barriers created by "quasi-government enterprises" with no interests in improving business performance.
MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti)
