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MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - Russia should not sell a planned19.5 percent stake in top national oil producer Rosneft on the open market, but should rather look to attracttwo strategic investors, TASS news agency quoted a Kremlinadviser as saying on Thursday.
Moscow included a planned reduction in its stake in Rosneft,the world's top listed oil producer by volume, to 50 percentfrom 69.5 percent, in its privatisation plan for 2016. The saleis expected to bring around 650 billion roubles ($10 billion) tothe budget.
"We clearly understand that it should not be via the marketas the market cannot digest such a volume. An active search fora strategic investor is now under way," Andrei Belousov, who isalso Rosneft chairman, told TASS.
He added that, ideally, the 19.5 percent stake should besplit between two investors. Belousov did not name them.
Last month, a senior official with China National PetroleumCorp, one of the largest buyers of Rosneft oil, said that thecompany was interested in Rosneft's privatisation.
A Kuwaiti official was quoted by TASS in April as not rulingout a possibility of taking part in the Rosneft's stake sale.
BP owns a 19.75 percent stake.
Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo was chosen as aninvestment consultant for Rosneft's privatisation, withWhite&Chase selected as legal advisers, Russian Economy MinisterAlexei Ulyukayev said earlier.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reportersseparately on Thursday that the ministry expected to conduct thesale in the second half of this year.
Apart from Rosneft, the state plans to reduce its holdingsin oil firm Bashneft, state bank VTB,diamond miner Alrosa and some other assets this year. ($1 = 65.3405 roubles) (Reporting by Alexander Winning and Darya Korsunskaya; writingby Katya Golubkova; Editing by Lidia Kelly and Alexandra Hudson)