ST. PETERSBURG. July 2 (Interfax) - The sale of the Central Bank's stake in the Moscow Exchange includes a six-month lock-up period, Deputy Chairman of the CBR Sergei Shvetsov told journalists in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.

He said this period would last six months. In addition, Asian investors accounted for around 15% of investors, 33% were European and around 40% were Russian, Shvetsov said, adding that more than 10% were American investors. Current American shareholders also requested to participate in the sale, he said.

"Around 40% were Russian investors since a large part of Russian investors act on behalf of foreign companies, and also there was a collective bid from sovereign funds that was given by the RDIF. For that reason, we simply don't know how much the RDIF [or] how much foreign sovereign funds accounted for," Shvetsov said.

"In the overall request demand [to participate], the share of all sovereign funds, including the RDIF, was 20%," Shvetsov said.

RDIF and VEB already own over 10% making them affiliates, he said, adding that the Central Bank decided to sell half of its stake since it is similar to the size issued in the IPO.

"It is not the easiest market now, and actually this is the first large deal of the first half of 2014, so we decided to focus on an IPO. We were not sure of such a high demand, which shows an interest for Russian shares," Shvetsov said, adding that the second half of the year could be more successful than the first for Russian issuers.

"We did not place the entire stake, but we were sure that we would sell the stake we put up because it was the exact same as in the IPO, but we have not yet decided about selling further," he said, noting that after the lock-up period, the Central Bank must dispose of its stake in the Moscow Exchange by January 1, 2016.

"A decision will be made - we're going to sell. The deadline is set in the law - January 1, 2016," the deputy chairman said, adding that around 267 million shares were sold for 16 billion rubles.

The Central Bank still has around 11.7% stake in the exchange.

"The deal was prepared fairly long ago. Banks carried out the groundwork and met with investors. This work took place in the first half of the year," he said.

"We sense that there was no insider trading," Shvetsov, commenting on the recent cost of the exchange's shares.

"The majority of bids were specifically at that price [60 rubles per share], and the range of bids was between 60 and 65 rubles," he said, noting that there were also bids without a price, meaning at the cut-off price.

"This deal is at least a confirmation of an interest in Russian shares from both domestic and foreign investors. [