Interfax cited Mr Leonid Melamed President of Sistema as saying that AFK Sistema will not become the controlling shareholder in oil company RussNeft in the short term outlook.

He said that "We will not become the controlling shareholder in the near future."

RussNeft value might increase substantially in future, due to organic growth and from mergers and acquisitions. He added that "We believe that the asset by itself has great potential."

However, Mr Anton Abugov First Vice President of Sistema said the company purchase of a 49% stake will not have an immediate effect in efforts to optimize production and refining volumes at Sistema BashTEK oil assets.

(Sourced from Interfax)