Russian Govt Tells Rosneft Board to Approve Bashneft Purchase

The Russian government on Thursday instructed the board of state oil firm Rosneft to approve the purchase of a 50.1 percent stake in smaller oil firm Bashneft for a price not higher than 330 billion roubles ($5.3 billion).

The purchase should be approved by Oct. 15, the government instruction said. 

(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy and Alexander Winning)