Moscow sells minority stake in Roseneft to Qatar & Glencore

World Today

Moscow sells minority stake in Roseneft to Qatar & Glencore

It’s a new financial pipeline for Russia. Moscow sold a minority stake in its largest state-owned oil company, Rosneft, to Qatar and commodities trader Glencore.

The move while unexpected injects much-needed money into the Russian economy. CCTV’s Julia Lyubova reports.

The deal to sell a share in Russia’s largest state-owned oil company Rosneft was kept a secret until Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement during a televised meeting with Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin. The surprise move sees Glencore and Qatar paying $11.3bn for the 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft.

BP already owns a 19.75 percent stake in Rosneft. Moscow will keep the controlling stake in the oil giant. Rosneft says it conducted talks with more than 30 potential bidders before striking the deal.

Rosneft is being sold by the government as part of a privatization drive to help balance the state budget. Russia’s economy has been hit hard by a drop in global crude prices and Western sanctions.

The Rosneft deal was announced several days after Russia and OPEC agreed to cut output to support oil prices. Russia is not a member of OPEC but has agreed to cut its production in line with the cartel. Moscow will attend a meeting with OPEC in Vienna on Saturday to discuss the details of the cut.