MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Rosneft oil major’s CEO Igor Sechin on Saturday protested against liberalizing access to Russia’s Arctic shelf for private companies, saying this could hurt both the existing oil projects in the area and the interests of Rosneft’s stakeholders.
"I believe that a profound change in this sphere [to regulations on shelf access] could damage the development of these projects… But whether it is worthwhile should be decided by the regulator," Sechin said.
Sechin also said that the financial and economic health of Rosneft remains stable.
"The financial and economic situation of the company is stable, we’ve been paying off all loans that we took to buy TNK-BP. We repaid $14 billion dollars last year and more than $7 billion since the start of this year," Sechin said in an interview with Rossiya 24.
He added there was no reason to fear a slump in the company’s finances.
TNK-BP was a major Russian oil company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft bought it from British energy company BP in 2013. Under the terms of the deal, BP received roughly $12.5 billion in cash and 18.5 percent of Rosneft shares in return for its 50-percent stake in the venture.
