Tatneft Completes $1.3 Billion Deal

Russia's sixth-largest oil producer, Tatneft, has won final approval from the Turkish government to buy a majority stake in state oil refiner Tupras for $1.3 billion.

The sale of the 66 percent stake to Tatneft and Turkey's Zorlu group was backed by the Privatization High Council, comprising Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and five ministers.

Turkey's privatization program is an important element of its $19 billion loan agreement with the IMF. Analysts believe the sale gave a boost to the slow-moving sell-off process.