Rosneft mulls $66bn worth of rouble bond issues

MOSCOW: Russia's top oil producer Rosneft is studying the possibility of issuing bonds worth 2.4 trillion roubles ($66.1 billion) to refinance its debts, Kommersant business daily reports on Tuesday, citing sources.

The newspaper quoted sources familiar with the situation as saying Rosneft may be preparing itself against western sanctions over Moscow's involvement in Ukraine. A Rosneft spokeswoman declined to comment.

The paper also reported that Rosneft planned to place 11 issues of bonds worth around 220 billion roubles each in next two weeks.

Rosneft has large debts after acquiring Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP last year for $55 billion. It's net debt stood at 1.9 trillion roubles as of Dec. 31 2013.