Russia’s Lukoil says dropped Bashneft bid due to high price

ISTANBUL, Oct 11 (PRIME) -- Russian oil major Lukoil, which was earlier named as one of the main contenders for the government’s stake in oil company Bashneft, has dropped plans to participate in privatization due to its high price, Vice President Leonid Fedun told reporters Tuesday.

“It is too expensive,” he said. “We’ve made a preliminary bid, but we understand a price and a fair price. For our company this is too expensive,” he said.

On Monday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a ruling to sell the government’s 50.075% stake in Bashneft to oil major Rosneft for 329.7 billion rubles. The sum should be paid by Friday and used in the 2016 budget.

(62.3884 rubles – U.S. $1)

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