Rosneft bidding in Bashneft sale undesirable if privatization is the goal - Kudrin
MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) - State oil major Rosneft's participation in the privatization of the Russian government's stake in oil company Bashneft is undesirable if the goal is to privatize this asset, the deputy chairman of the president's Economic Council and head of the Center for Strategic Research, Alexei Kudrin said in an interview with Interfax.
"I think that the state's goal after all is to privatize assets. And the participation of another company that is primarily state owned in this is undesirable," Kudrin said.
"As I've heard, this is the position that the government is taking," he added.
Since the controlling stake in Rosneft is not owned by the Federal Property Agency directly, but through state holding company Rosneftegaz, there has been debate about whether the oil major, as a state company, can participate in the Bashneft privatization.
