Russia pledged support to the most leveraged and crisis-hit sectors of the economy on Tuesday, including real estate and retail, sending shares in several of its London-listed firms up sharply.

The Kremlin's top economic aide, Arkady Dvorkovich, said the government would purchase apartments from developers to support the domestic real estate sector.

"For banks to feel a certain comfort when lending to these (real estate) companies, the state will offer to buy flats from developers," he told state television channel Vesti 24.

"The banks will find it easy to give credits to developers if they know that there is guaranteed demand for flats," Dvorkovich later told Reuters, adding the government was considering buying only unfinished and unsold residential property.

He also said retailers would get tax breaks and credits from the government to help withstand the global liquidity crisis.

Russian companies have to repay or refinance $120 billion before the end of 2009, and the government has already pledged to help refinance $50 billion from its foreign exchange reserves amid the capital markets freeze.

But banks are unwilling to lend to developers and retailers, which have been among the most aggressive lenders, as they expect property prices to fall sharply and the consumer boom to make a hard landing due to an expected slowdown in Russia's economic growth.

Компания "SV Development"