Chinese CEFC buys stake in Rosneft

Baku. 9 September. REPORT.AZ/ Chinese conglomerate CEFC bought a 14.2 percent stake in Russian Rosneft from a consortium of Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Report informs citing Reuters, the company head Igor Sechin told Russia24.

I. Sechin said QIA and Glencore cut the stakes partially because of a decline in the U.S. dollar against the euro, which made debt servicing more expensive.

A CEFC spokesman said the company paid $9.1 billion for a 14.2 percent stake.

The deal comes as the United States imposes a new round of economic sanctions on Russia, making it difficult for large Western firms such as Glencore to develop partnerships and increase ties with state-owned firms such as Rosneft. Also, Italian bank Intesa SanPaolo could not syndicate the loan from other banks to share risks as most lenders declined to get involved because of new sanctions on Russia. Intesa said its 5.2 billion euro loan will be reimbursed following the CEFC deal.

Notably, Glencore and QIA agreed to buy a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft for 10.5 billion euros. Glencore and QIA will retain stakes of 0.5 percent and 4.7 percent in Rosneft respectively.