Russia Offering Rosneft Stake in $59 Billion of Sales

Russia plans to sell as much as 15 percent of OAO Rosneft, its biggest oil producer, as the government seeks to raise 1.8 trillion rubles ($59 billion) in asset sales in the next five years to help balance the budget.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s government approved the plan to sell stakes in about 900 companies, including lenders OAO Sberbank and VTB Group, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said late yesterday. The comments, initially reported by Interfax, were confirmed by Shuvalov’s spokesman.