MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia is due to sell 19.5 percent of Rosneft shares before the end of the year.
"I think that Rosneft was always a priority, because it is bigger, more expensive and more valuable for the budget. We are talking about some 700 billion rubles which can thus be obtained to fulfill budgetary obligations," Ulyukayev told the Russian RBC TV channel.
The Russian 2016 economic development plan specifies partial privatization of state assets to support budget revenue, which has suffered due to falling oil prices. Rosneft and Bashneft oil and gas companies, the ALROSA group of diamond mining companies, VTB bank, as well as the Sovcomflot maritime petroleum and liquefied gas shipping company, are among the companies to be partially privatized.
