MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he had invited the chairman of conglomerate Sistema to a meeting he plans to hold with Russian business before the end of the year.
Vladimir Yevtushenkov was freed from house arrest on Wednesday, Interfax reported. He had been held on charges of money laundering connected to a deal to acquire a stake in oil company Bashneft. That stake has been returned to the state.
Putin told his annual end-of-year news conference that the so-called Bashneft case was not linked to any wider revision of the privatisation of state assets. He also said that he hoped that Sistema would be able to restore its position on the stock market.
Shares in business conglomerate Sistema rose strongly after Putin's comments, extending gains of some 60 percent to trade up 80 percent on the day.
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