Binding offers for 19.5% of Rosneft shares must be made in November
ROME. Nov 8 (Interfax) - Contenders for the purchase of 19.5% of the government's stake in Rosneft must make their corresponding proposals in November.
"Binding offers according to the schedule must be made in November," Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists.
He said that he did not have information on whether somebody has already submitted an offer. "No, I have nothing that isn't known about that. We do not have direct relations with potential buyers, we have relations with Rosneftegaz. We give it a directive so it can organize a deal in a manner so that the budget receives the defined amount no later than a certain date. We also gave them a directive when the time came regarding what criteria participants in the deal were required to follow. It is the basic framework we work under," he said.
"Then they give us certain information - what the consultant Intesa advised the vendor, Rosneftegaz to do, according to what schedule," he said.
"Now they'll inform us that they've posted an offer to some buyers and received a response, so we'll wait," he said.
He confirmed that there were contenders for the stake: "Yes, they exist."
But he said he did not know whether Lukoil was interested in biding for Rosneft.
Commenting on the government decree on the possibility of the sale of shares in Rosneft and of Rosneft buying its own shares, Ulyukayev said: "No it doesn't envisage this [a buyback by Rosneft]." "We've always said that what is being described as buyback isn't really a buyback but a transit operation that just enables money to be received by the budget as early as 2016, and the privatization deal can them be closed in 2017," he said.
As for the requirements, one of which is a three-year lock-up, Ulyukayev said it might be interpreted that this does not apply to Rosneft. "Or we'll adjust the criteria," he said.
The minister also said that at the moment the issue of selling an additional 10% government stake of Rosneft was not on the agenda. "Everything that is favorable is possible, but we don't have that in our privatization plan for 2017-2019," he said.