ST PETERSBURG, Russia, May 24 (Reuters) - Russian EconomyMinister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Saturday that proceeds fromthe state selling a stake in the country's largest oil producershould go to the federal budget and not to the energy holdingRosneftegaz.
Russia is considering bringing forward its plans to sell 19.5percent in the world's top listed crude producer. The economyand the finance ministries have been pushing for the deal,wanting cash for the federal budget.
In the past, however, selling state property in Russia didnot always mean extra budget revenues, as proceeds weresometimes retained by state companies.
"It should be an all-encompassing decision that we do thisdeal with the understanding that as a result the budget receivesthe money," Ulyukayev told journalists on the sidelines of theSt Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Although the federal budget may come with a surplus of 0.5percent of gross domestic product this year thanks to strong oilprices and a weaker rouble, government finances are vulnerable.
Russia needs funds to secure the financing of Crimea,annexed by Russia from Ukraine in March, at a time when aslowing economy and Western sanctions threaten tax revenues andaccess to financial markets.
The state holding Rosneftegaz controls 69.5 percent inRosneft and almost 11 percent in the world's largestnatural gas producer Gazprom.
The government is still waiting for proceeds from lastyear's sale by Rosneftegaz of a stake in the oil company TNK-BPto Britain's BP, worth nearly $5 billion, a part of abigger deal in which Rosneft acquired TNK-BP for $55 billion.
"Rosneftegaz should transfer 100 percent of those proceedsto the budget," Ulyukayev said.
Russia's once ambitious privatisation plans have beenhitting obstacles, hindered both by poor financial marketconditions and the reluctance of some government officials tosell state assets. (Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Lidia Kelly,Editing by Jason Bush and Stephen Powell)