"The Rosneft board of directors has approved the offering circular as part of the company's process of applying for IPO," the news release said. "The document has been forwarded to the Federal Service for Financial Markets."
Oleg Vyugin, the head of the service, said Thursday Rosneft would be listed simultaneously on foreign and Russian bourses, placing 30% of the share offering on the former and 70% on the latter, "in accordance with the legislation that is coming into force."
The company said earlier it expected to IPO in the second half of 2006.
However, Director of the Federal Property Agency Valery Nazarov had said Tuesday that Rosneft's asset evaluation report had not yet been forwarded to the agency.
"We have not received the evaluation documents," he said. "They are being finalized."
Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov, nevertheless, gave assurances that the company's IPO filing was proceeding according to schedule, and would be completed within the set timeframe.
The Rosneft president said the company had held meetings with investors and analysts. "We have already held several roadshows, and dozens of face-to-face meetings," he said, adding that Rosneft was working to consolidate subsidiaries and finalize the consolidated format.
Rosneft sees the IPO as a way to attract investment to further develop its resources, to obtain new licenses, and to bid in tenders that the Ministry of Natural Resources will hold in 2006-08.
"Substantial investment from the IPO will help us move closer to the goals we have set, and secure at least 25% of the Russian oil market," Bogdanchikov said.
