Qatari QIA denies buyback option in Rosneft sale agreement

MOSCOW, Jun 8 (PRIME) -- The Qatar Investment Authority’s (QIA) contract to acquire a 19.5% stake in Russian oil major Rosneft has no buyback option, like the Wall Street Journal reported, QIA said late on Wednesday.

“According to the agreement, under which Rosneft’s shares were sold, neither Rosneft nor Rosneftegaz nor the Russian government have the right to buy back the shares directly or indirectly. The consortium controls the future property corresponding to the shares exclusively,” it said.

QIA added that it consulted with the best international legal, accounting and investment banking companies while structuring and closing the deal to ensure it is in line with all applicable U.S. and E.U. requirements and rules.

The WSJ said the deal had a 10-year buyback option. It quoted sources as saying that buyback was discussed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and they agreed that Russia will buy back at least part of the interest.

The government sold the stake in Rosneft to a consortium of commodity trader Glencore and the QIA for 10.5 billion euros in December 2016.

On Monday, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrein and the United Arab Emirates declared a break in diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist organizations. The eastern part of Libya, Yemen, Maldives and Mauritius later said they broke relations with Doha as well.

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