Privatization of Rosneft Impossible in Current Situation - Official

Andrei Belousov, a presidential aide and the newly-elected Rosneft chairman of the board of directors, said that there is no need to hurry with privatization of the company.

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — The current economic situation does not permit the privatization of the Russian oil giant Rosneft's state-held assets, Andrei Belousov, a presidential aide and the newly-elected Rosneft chairman of the board of directors, said Thursday.

"The possibility of privatizing Rosneft is being considered every year. It will all depend on the economic situation. I believe that there is no need to hurry in the current situation," Belousov told journalists at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Rosneft is one of the leaders in Russia’s petroleum industry. The company’s activities include hydrocarbon exploration and production, upstream offshore projects, hydrocarbon refining, and crude oil, gas and product marketing in Russia and abroad.

Currently, the company's main shareholder (69.5 percent) is state-owned Rosneftegaz.

State shares of 19.5 percent were to be privatized by 2016, according to a government program, passed in 2013.