MOSCOW |
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia may sell up to 6 percent of shares in Rosneft (ROSN.MM) in 2013 as part of the country’s drive to reduce state ownership of assets, economy minister Andrei Belousov said on Thursday.
Russia’s largest oil company is already listed and sold its shares worth $10 billion in an initial public offering in 2006 and the state wants energy holding company Rosneftegaz to start cutting its 75.1 percent stake in the company from 2013, with a complete sale by 2016.
Rosneft is in the process of buying rival producer TNK-BP (TNBP.MM) in a $55 billion deal.
As part of the privatisation plan, the government also plans to sell a stake in shipping group Sovcomflot and a 5 percent share of state rail monopoly Russian Railways in 2013.
(Reporting By Reuters Moscow bureau, writing by Megan Davies)