Putin Confirms Foreign Investors Transferred Funds for Acquired Rosneft Shares

According to the Russian president, foreign investors has transferred all the funds for the purchase of 19.5 percent of shares in Russia's Rosneft oil company.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The consortium of foreign investors has transferred all the funds for the purchase of 19.5 percent of shares in Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company, and this money is in the country’s budget now, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

“Have the foreigners transferred money for the purchase of 19.5-percent stake in Rosneft? Yes, the funds have been fully transferred to the Russian budget. … Foreign companies have already transferred their whole share, which is over 700 billion rubles [some 11.5 billion US dollars],” Putin said during the annual press conference.

On December 7, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin told Putin that preparation for the privatization of 19.5 percent of the company's shares was completed. On December 10, the transaction participants said the agreement was signed. The buyer was a consortium of Swiss trader Glencore and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund (Qatar Investment Authority).