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Russia to retain more than 70 percent of oil group Rosneft: Gref
AFP
MOSCOW
Petroleumworld.com 06 15 06The Russian state will retain more than 70 percent of the shares in the oil group Rosneft after it is listed in what could be a massive initial public offer (IPO), Minister for Economic Development and Trade German Gref said Wednesday.
"The state's stake in Rosneft after its listing will be more than 70 percent," Interfax news agency quoted Gref as telling an economic forum in Saint Petersburg.
He said that "much less than 30 percent" of Russia's second-biggest oil company would be listed on the London and Moscow stock exchanges.
The company plans to float shares next month in a sale that company sources have estimated could bring in between 10-14 billion dollars (8.0-11 billion euros), making the IPO one of the biggest ever.
Earlier in the day, Rosneft chief executive rebuffed critics of his company ahead of its planned flotation.
"We believe that the issue of the purchase of Yuganskneftegaz is closed," Sergei Bogdanchikov was quoted as saying in an interview with the Kommersant daily in reference to Rosneft's acquisition of the massive Siberian facility from Yukos -- once Russia's biggest producer.
Rosneft bought Yuganskneftegaz in 2004 in an opaque financial operation and at a price far lower than the plant's value as estimated by international experts amid a judicial campaign against Yukos seen as steered by the Kremlin.
Bogdanchikov, who has headed up fully state-owned Rosneft since 1998, said legal matters concerning the purchase of the Siberian facility had been cleared up by recent court rulings in the US city of Houston, London and Russia.
"The question arises: what claims can anyone have against us?" he asked during the Kommersant interview.
The Yuganskeftegaz purchase has accounted in large part for the good fortunes of Rosneft, which rose from being a relatively small market player in Russia to the country's second-biggest producer, with net profits of 4.1 billion dollars last year.
Some foreign investors have expressed concern that Yuganskneftegaz in western Siberia, Russia's second-biggest oil production facility, could become a legal risk for Rosneft in the future however.
But Bogdanchikov said that in meetings with investors: "I did not feel any serious concern over some problems on the part of the investment community."
AFP 14 1540 GMT 06 06
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