MOSCOW, September 9 (RIA Novosti) - Rosneft, Russia's state-owned oil company, could make its initial public offering (IPO) in late 2006, Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref said.
Gref said that before the IPO, Rosneft could sell some of its shares to pay off part of its debt on the $7.5 billion syndicated loan that Western banks had provided to Rosneft and Rosneftegaz to purchase a 10.74% stake in Gazprom, Russia's natural gas monopoly.
State-owned Rosneftegaz said earlier that the consortium of banks that had allowed the loan would arrange for Rosneft's IPO. The consortium includes ABN Amro Bank, Drezdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
Profits from the IPO will let Rosneftegaz, Rosneft's only shareholder, repay the credit to the international banks.
