01 July 2016, 14:39 / Business

Alexey Ulyukaev estimated 19.5% of Rosneft at 900 billion rubles

On the market this package costs 30% cheaper Alina Fadeeva Alexey Ulyukaev estimated 19.5% of Rosneft at 900 billion rubles / A. Gordeev / Vedomosti

Rosneft will not be sold on the market

The consultant does not advise privatizing the company through the market

Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev estimates 19.5% of Rosneft at 900 billion rubles, as follows from his interview with Gazeta.ru. “We are forecast to be short of approximately 1 trillion rubles for the year. oil and gas income, we have plus about 100 billion - non-oil and gas income. We are going to close the gap of 900 billion by privatizing 19.5% of Rosneft, the official said. Now on the Moscow Exchange the Rosneft stake is worth 683 billion rubles, so Ulyukaev is counting on a premium of 32% to the market price. As a rule, the premium for a large package is 15-25%, estimated Raiffeisenbank analyst Andrey Polishchuk. Co-owner of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov offered a premium for control in Bashneft of 15-20%.

Now 69.5% of Rosneft belongs to the state-owned Rosneftegaz, 19.75% to the British BP. The government wants to sell 19.5%: the budget needs money in the face of falling oil prices and sanctions. The government wants to receive at least 700 billion rubles for it, Bloomberg wrote earlier.

The consultant for the privatization deal, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank, has already prepared proposals on the method of sale, the Ministry of Economic Development reported. The consultant recommends selling the stake to strategic investors and not placing it on the public market, three federal officials who were familiar with the bank’s proposal told Vedomosti. The market will not absorb such a volume, one of the officials reports the consultant’s explanation, and even a small package is not worth placing. “If the market is bad, it will only create a negative benchmark for the valuation when selling the remaining stake in the company,” says another official.

The consultant has not yet proposed specific buyers, Vedomosti’s interlocutors know. One of them believes that the question of who to sell to—foreign or Russian investors—is resolvable; another official claims: the Chinese and Indians are interested. The strategist, according to him, will have to pay a premium, its size is a matter of debate.

Rosneft is looking for a strategist

The government held a meeting this week on the privatization of Rosneft, a draft government directive is due out in July, and by September 1 Intesa Sanpaolo will have to present specific methods of sale and a list of buyers, three officials say.

Bloomberg reported that Russia intends to sell 19.5% of Rosneft to Chinese and Indian companies for $11 billion; this should be a deal with just two states. The idea of such a sale to Rosneft was confirmed by a high-ranking official. CNPC has already announced its interest in privatizing the stake. Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev spoke about the interest in Rosneft among investors from other countries.