Official sees Russia’s Rosneft sale to investor as basic scenario

MOSCOW, Feb 25 (PRIME) -- The Russian government thinks that the sale of its 19.5% stake in Rosneft to a strategic investor with a premium to the market is a baseline scenario of its privatization, Presidential Aide Andrei Belousov told reporters Thursday.

“(To sell) to a strategic investor – yes, because it is just impossible to place this amount on the open market due to a too large scale… According to estimates, 4–5% can be placed, this is why naturally, the main way to privatize Rosneft is to look for a strategic investor. We are doing this work now,” Belousov said.

According to an earlier statement of the Federal State Property Management Agency, Rosneft is almost ready for privatization of the stake which belongs to state oil and gas holding Rosneftegaz. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in late 2015 that the stake price must stand at 500 billion rubles at least.

(76.3928 rubles – U.S. $1)

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