MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) - LUKoil (RTS: LKOH), Russia's No. 1 independent crude oil producer, said Tuesday it would earmark $3 billion to redeem its shares on the stock exchange.
"A decision has been made to use $3 billion garnered from higher oil prices than the $46 per barrel fixed in our budget to buy up our own stock," Leonid Fedun, the company's deputy chairman, said after a board meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan.
He promised considerable bonuses for shareholders in the form of dividends, gains from the share buyout and from growth in share price on the back of new projects.
Russia's ING Bank (Eurasia) is LUKoil's majority shareholder (63.3%), with U.S. energy giant ConocoPhillips holding a 16.8% stake.
