Gov't official on Gazprom and Rosneft's merger

The government will determine a plan of measures concerning Gazprom and Rosneft's merger after the assets of the two companies are assessed, Russian Deputy Economy Minister Andrey Sharonov reported to journalists today. Gazprom's management has already prepared such a plan, he added.

Speaking about who will carry out the assessment of the company's assets at the government's request, the Deputy Economy Minister declared that the Morgan Stanley investment bank would most probably do this because it had been chosen by the Federal Agency for Managing Federal Property. At the same time, Sharonov did not specify when the bank and the agency would sign an agreement, as the government's directive is necessary for this.