Russia's second-biggest gas
producer Novatek is close to selling a 9.9 percent
stake worth an estimated $900 million in its Yamal liquefied
natural gas project to a Chinese investment fund, Kommersant
business daily reported on Monday.
The deal may close in the coming weeks, the daily quoted
three sources familiar with the talks as saying. It quoted one
of source as saying the buyer was China's infrastructure fund
Silk Road.
The stake sale may help Novatek to line up project financing
from Chinese banks after sanctions shut access for Russian
companies to Western capital markets, Kommersant said.
Novatek was not immediately available for comment.
China announced last year it would contribute $40 billion to
set up the Silk Road fund to boost connectivity across Asia. The
fund made its first acquisition in April, investing $125 million
in a Chinese company developing energy projects in Pakistan.
(Reuters)