OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom is going to soon sell the quasi-treasury shares remaining at its subsidiaries, with a combined value of more than $ 3 billion, the American News Agency reported, citing two sources familiar with the corporation's plans. Currently, the subsidiaries own 3.7% of the Russian gas giant. According to sources, the deal may take place against the backdrop of a 49% increase in Gazprom shares this year and will follow the sale in July by Gazprom subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Cyprus of a 2.9% stake in the company for 139 billion rubles.

Gazprom said it sold the package as part of a bid from an unnamed buyer. However, according to Russian media sources, 2.9% of the shares were sold to a group of Russian investors, among whom was a company associated with billionaire Arkady Rotenberg. “We weren't allowed to participate in the purchase of Gazprom shares, the market suspects that everyone bought Rotenbergs”, said the media investor, who applied for participation in the transaction.

A spokesman for the gas corporation, Sergei Kupriyanov, declined to comment on Bloomberg's possibility of selling quasi-treasury shares. The representative of Arkady Rotenberg, who is under American and European sanctions, previously denied to the Russian media information that the entrepreneur or any related companies were involved in the transaction for the purchase of Gazprom shares.

Two other interlocutors of the agency added that foreign investors were excluded from participation in the transaction a month earlier, nevertheless, in the event of an additional transaction of 3.7% of the shares, they will be able to obtain such permission to purchase part of the securities through local brokers. Initially, sources added, the corporation wanted to sell the entire package immediately in July, but was faced with the risk of large tax payments.