MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) - Russian film studios will be assessed for professional efficiency, following which a decision will be made as to whether some of them should be privatized or sold, said Valery Rusin, Deputy General Director at the Gorky Film Studio.

"The consultative group consisting of representatives from the Russian Public Assets Agency, the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, the Mosfilm Studio, and the Gorky Film Studio met more than a week ago and decided that the group should seek the suspension of the privatization of film studios because there is no strategy as to how this privatization will be held," Rusin told Interfax on Wednesday.

The working group is to conduct a examination of Russian film studios and their technical facilities, in order to establish which of them are able to compete with Western filmmakers and to create good- quality productions.

As a result of this monitoring, indispensable film studios will be identified which can meet modern standards, Rusin said. Those studios which fail to demonstrate their efficiency are likely to be privatized, he said.

So far, the merger between the three largest Russian film studios - Mosfilm, Gorky and Lenfilm - is not being considered, he said.

"Some decision will be made concerning those studios which are unable to compete. But no merger is being planned between Mosfilm, the Gorky studio and Lenfilm," Rusin said.