Russia's government wants to sell a state stake in oil giant Rosneft to "real investors" but may force the company to buy its own shares to prop up the country's budget, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on Thursday.
If Rosneft buys its own shares, it will be only a temporary measure to channel extra revenues to the budget by the end of the year, Shuvalov said. In such case Rosneft will later sell the stake to investors, he said.
The government seeks to carry out privatisation for the benefit of the state budget, Shuvalov said.
(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Andrey Ostroukh)
