On March 27, Rosneft bought back its 9.44% stake held by Yukos in the first auction of the bankrupt oil company's assets through a 100%-controlled subsidiary, RN-Razvitiye.
Market watchers believe Rosneft's acquisition will further strengthen the state's role in the oil sector and enhance the company's attractiveness for foreign investors.
"We are interested in almost all Yukos production units," Mikhail Stavsky said without specifying which companies.
Vladimir Voyevoda, a deputy head of Rosneft's information and advertising department, said Tuesday the company had taken out a loan worth $22 billion to take part in the other eight Yukos auctions.
Yukos, once Russia's largest oil company, was declared bankrupt August 1, 2006, after three years of litigation with tax authorities over the company's tax arrears.
Yukos, whose founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky is serving an eight-year prison term in Siberia after being convicted of fraud in May 2005, faces a total of more than 700 billion rubles (about $26.9 billion) in claims from creditors.
Another company interested in buying Yukos assets is Russian energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP].
Viktor Gerashchenko, the chairman of the Yukos board of directors, said, "Rosneft is interested in Yukos's assets in the Samara Region [in the Volga area], while Gazprom has shown an interest in the oil firm's Achinsk group and the Angarsk refinery [in Siberia]."
Stavsky said Gazprom's transport capacity will restrict Rosneft's natural gas production in West Siberia until 2012.
"Gazprom said we will not join the pipeline until 2012," he said adding that the pipeline is pumping Gazprom's gas produced in the region.
"They may allow us to use the pipeline when their production falls," Stavsky said.
He said Rosneft is also considering the construction of gas chemical and LNG plants in West Siberia.
