Russian president Mr Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for the billionaire owners of the Alfa-Access-Renova consortium to invest the USD 28 billion cash they will get from selling their 50% stake in TNK-BP locally.
Mr Putin told reporters during his marathon news conference that “I would very much like them to invest this money, or a significant portion of it, in the Russian economy.”
However, he made it clear that the consortium members are free to decide how to use the proceeds from the deal without any pressure from the Kremlin.
Mr Putin said that “If we admitted that it is a legitimate owner, that they received the money legally, it's still up to them to decide where to invest adding that the parties involved in the deal are in regular contact with government officials.”
A source close to AAR, who declined to be identified because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media, said each of the consortium's companies makes its strategic business decisions independently and will decide individually how to invest the proceeds from the deal.
The source said that cash from the sale of the stake in TNK-BP to state oil behemoth Rosneft will be distributed among the three consortium members, with Access and Renova each getting USD 7 billion, while Alfa Group will get USD 14 billion.
A company spokesman Andrei Shtorkh said that "The president's comments are unlikely to result in Renova changing its investment strategy.” The spokesman said that "We make the largest portion of our investment in Russia and will continue to do so adding that the diversified company, owned by billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, plans to gradually reduce spending on oil and gas projects to increase investment in the technology sector.”
Rosneft sealed a USD 61 billion deal in October to buy 100% of TNK-BP from BP and the AAR consortium of companies, owned by Soviet-born tycoons Vekselberg, Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Len Blavatnik.
