Russia: State Support for Rosneft Possible

Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Tuesday that the government may provide some support for sanctions-hit oil producer Rosneft, but significantly less than it had asked for.

Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft, has asked the government to provide Rosneft with 1.5 trillion roubles to help the company weather western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukrainian crisis, the Vedomosti newspaper reported earlier this month.

"There are some options for the support but the sums' order of magnitude is less than that," Ulyukayev told reporters.

Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk