Putin confirms plans to broaden China ties
(Agencies)
Updated: 2006-01-31 19:47

Putin: Russia has no plans to monopolize oil and gas sector 

President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the state had no plans to monopolize the oil and gas sector but supported the creation of strong state-controlled firms, with foreign strategic investors and shareholders.

"Weather in the world energy sector is made by big international companies ... large, powerful, as a rule multinational companies," he said. "We, too, must develop in this direction."

At the same time, Putin stressed that Russia would not follow the example of OPEC countries or Norway, where the sector is dominated by the state.

"Yes, Gazprom is a company where the state has a controlling stake, but we said several years ago that we would return state control over the biggest oil and gas company in Russia and we have done this, done it openly," he said. "But this was accompanied by liberalizing Gazprom shares _ allowing investors from the market to become shareholders."

He added that Gazprom has a strategic foreign investor in the form of Germany's Ruhrgas. The state-owned Rosneft oil firm, which is preparing for an initial public offering of shares, would "develop along the same lines," he said.

Speaking of other, independent oil firms, Putin said: "No one is planning to nationalize them, no one is planning to interfere in their business. They will develop according to market rules as private companies."