Russian state bank lent billions to fund privatisation deal - reports

By Katya Golubkova and Alexander Winning MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state-owned bank VTB briefly lent over $11 billion (9 billion pounds) to an entity controlled by Qatar and commodities trader Glencore four days after the Kremlin signed a deal to sell them a stake in state oil company Rosneft for a similar amount, two Russian newspapers reported on Tuesday. The existence of the short-term loan, if confirmed, muddies the picture that Kremlin officials painted of the deal, as a successful transaction that showed foreign investors were hungry for Russian assets despite Moscow's stand-off with the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who trumpeted the sale late last year of the Rosneft stake as a major boost to the state budget, had previously said Russian state-run banks should not bankroll such transactions. Rosneft and VTB declined to comment on Tuesday on whether the lender had lent the money to the Qatar-Glencore joint venture. Glencore and the Qatari wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, could not immediately be reached for comment. Rosneft, in a statement, said that the financing of the deal was structured to avoid causing volatility on the Russian foreign exchange market. A Kremlin spokesman said he could not confirm if the loan was made or not, but said if it was, it should not be seen as part of the financing for the Rosneft deal because the lender was not a party to the deal. JEWEL IN THE CROWN Russia's Vedomosti and RBC newspapers both reported that VTB had provided a bridging loan of 692 billion roubles ($11.68 billion) to the Qatari-Glencore entity between Dec. 15 and Dec. 22. The dailies cited company filings in Singapore where the entity, QHG Shares Pte, is registered. The sale of the 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft, the world's largest listed oil producer, was heralded by Russian officials as the jewel in the crown of Russia's 2016 privatisation programme to plug holes in the state budget. The reports about the VTB loan add to intrigue already swirling about the transaction. The loan may have been deemed necessary because Rosneft was racing to meet a deadline, set by the government, to transfer revenue from the privatisation of its stake into the state budget by mid-December. But even if the loan was indeed temporary and the money was returned to VTB, questions remain about how the acquisition was financed and what role Russian state lenders played. The Kremlin said the Rosneft deal overall was worth 10.2 billion euros. According to statements issued by parties to the deal, Glencore contributed 300 million euros, Qatar about 2.5 billion euros and Italian bank Intesa San Paolo put in 5.2 billion euros in credit. It remains unclear who provided the balance of 2.2 billion euros. Asked on Tuesday about the reports VTB had provided the bridging loan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "It cannot be seen as participation in the privatisation. It has absolutely no connection to the privatisation itself." ($1 = 59.2700 roubles) (Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Christian Lowe)