City of Moscow, a shareholder in Sibir Energy PLC (SBE.LN), doesn't intend to sell its 18% stake in the London-listed oil producer to Anglo-Russian oil major TNK-BP Ltd., the Kommersant daily reported Monday citing a Moscow deputy mayor.
TNK-BP is preparing a GBP2.3 billion offer for Sibir Energy, the U.K.'s Sunday Times said Sunday without citing sources.
"We've had talks with another shareholder, Igor Kesaev, and we decided that our strategy will be to hold on to our stakes," Moscow deputy mayor Vladimir Silkin said.
Igor Kesaev holds a 23.5% stake in Sibir Energy. The mid-sized oil producer said last week it had filed lawsuits against its core shareholder Chalva Tchigirinski and former Chief Executive Henry Cameron, accusing them of share-price manipulation and unauthorized payments of up to $400 million from company accounts.
The Sunday Times said TNK-BP's Executive Director German Khan has held informal talks with several U.K. institutions as well as with OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS), Russia's state-controlled bank, which holds 47% of Sibir's shares as collateral for loans made to the company's two largest shareholders, Tchigirinski and Kesaev.
Sibir Energy produces around 75,000 barrels of crude oil a day and holds a 50% stake in the Moscow refinery.