SOCHI (Sputnik) – Russia has started privatization of 19.5 percent of shares in the state-run energy company Rosneft as well as the controlling interest in oil company Bashneft, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Friday.
"After the government considered a possible privatization of Bashneft and Rosneft again and submitted a report to the president, a decision has been made to renew preparations for the process of selling the controlling stake in Bashneft. We are also immediately starting preparations for selling 19.5 percent of shares in Rosneft," Shuvalov said.
"We hope to receive over a trillion rubles from both sales until the end of this year," he told reporters in the southern Russian city of Sochi.
The deputy prime minister emphasized that Rosneft will not be limited in its right to take part in the auctioning of Bashneft.
