OREANDA-NEWS. October 05, 2009. Sistema (the “Group”) (LSE: SSA), the largest diversified public financial corporation in Russia and the CIS, which invests in and is a major shareholder in companies operating in different industries, announced that its Board of Directors has proposed to the Extraordinary General Meeting of Sistema shareholders to be held on November 16, 2009 that the EGM approves the sale of Sistema’s stakes in Ufaneftechim JSC, Novoil JSC, Ufaorgsintez JSC, Ufimskiy NPZ JSC and Bashkirnefteprodukt JSC to ANK Bashneft JSC (“Bashneft”). Shareholders as at the record date of October 5, 2009 are eligible to participate in, and vote at, the EGM by proxy, reported the press-centre of Sistema.

Sistema acquired a controlling stake in ANK Bashneft JSC in April 2009, and submitted a mandatory offer to the Federal Financial Markets Service on September 16, 2009 to acquire minority shares in ANK Bashneft JSC.
 
Vladimir Evtushenkov, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Sistema, commented: “As previously indicated, our objective is to build up a vertically integrated oil company that Bashneft will manage. The decision to sell the controlling stakes in the five Bashkir companies to Bashneft is the next step in the optimisation of the business processes of the Bashkir Oil and Energy Group.”