MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government is to go ahead with plans to privatize a 19.5 percent stake in oil major Rosneft in 2015, likely in two stages, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Thursday.
“The [government] plan is being upheld and preliminary operations have already begun. We are talking about the sale of the entire [19.5 percent] government stake [previously discussed] and it will most likely be in two tranches. It’s too early to talk about who the main purchasers will be,” Ulyukayev said.
In mid-July, Ulyukayev said the government was ready to privatize 19.5 percent of Rosneft from state-owned Rosneftegaz’ 69.5 percent stake on the condition that the price would be no lower than the initial placement. Rosneft’s IPO in July 2006 garnered $7.55 per share.
Rosneft is a Russian oil giant, and one of the leaders in the country’s petroleum industry. The company’s activities include hydrocarbon exploration and production, upstream offshore projects, hydrocarbon refining, and crude oil, gas and product marketing in Russia and abroad.
Currently, the main company’s shareholder (69.5 percent) is state-owned Rosneftegaz. BP owns another 19.75 percent, while the remaining 10.75 percent is publicly traded.
