Gunvor put up for sale?

As Kommersant reports, once the largest exporter of Russian oil,the Swiss Gunvor is preparing to be sold. In March, just before the introduction of the U.S. personal sanctions, one of the company's founders, the businessman Gennady Timchenko withdrew form its capital and sold his stake to his partner Torbjorn Tornqvist. According to unofficial information, there is just one potential buyer of the entire asset - Rosneft, but it regards this idea without enthusiasm.

Gunvor was offered to customers in May, market sources of Kommersant say. According to one of them, negotiations on the sale of the entire trader are held with several contenders, among which are oil companies. Other Kommersant’s sources note that deal with Rosneft was informally discussed. Kommersant’s interlocutors in the close to the former co-owner of Gunvor Gennady Timchenko say that "the company is in talks to attract partners, this is a fact, and, of course, Rosneft is also being considered. According to Kommersant’s sources, the final value of the trader hasn’t been defined yet, but "it is about $5 billion". Gunvor only says that "the company is not looking for buyers". Rosneft "hasn’t received any proposals from Gunvor" for while.