Let <i>A</i> ≥ <i>m</i><sub><i>A</i></sub> > 0 be a closed positive definite symmetric operator in a Hilbert space ℌ, let <span class="mathjax-tex">\({{\hat {A}}_{F}}\)</span> and <span class="mathjax-tex">\({{\hat {A}}_{K}}\)</span> be its Friedrichs and Krein extensions, and let ?<sub>∞</sub> be the ideal of compact operators in ℌ. The following problem has been posed by M.S. Birman: Is the implication <i>A</i><sup>–1</sup> ∈ ?<sub>∞</sub> ⇒ (<span class="mathjax-tex">\({{\hat {A}}_{F}}\)</span> )<sup>–1</sup> ∈ ?<sub>∞</sub>(ℌ) holds true or not? It turns out that under condition <i>A</i><sup>–1</sup> ∈ ?<sub>∞</sub> the spectrum of Friedrichs extension <span class="mathjax-tex">\({{\hat {A}}_{F}}\)</span> might be of arbitrary nature. This gives a complete negative solution to the Birman problem. Let <span class="mathjax-tex">\(\hat {A}_{K}^{'}\)</span> be the reduced Krein extension. It is shown that certain spectral properties of the operators (<span class="mathjax-tex">\({{I}_{{{{\mathfrak{M}}_{0}}}}}\)</span> + <span class="mathjax-tex">\(\hat {A}_{K}^{'}\)</span>)<sup>–1</sup> and <i>P</i><sub>1</sub>(<i>I</i> + <i>A</i>)<sup>–1</sup> are close. For instance, these operators belong to a symmetrically normed ideal ?, say are compact, only simultaneously. Moreover, it turns out that under a certain additional condition the eigenvalues of these operators have the same asymptotic. Besides we complete certain investigations by Birman and Grubb regarding the equivalence of semiboubdedness property of selfadjoint extensions of <i>A</i> and the corresponding boundary operators.