(ANSA) - MOSCOW - The Russian oil giant Rosneft, hit by Western sanctions, has asked the State for a loan amounting to more than 2 trillion rubles - over 38 billion euro, the Russian Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, announced as quoted by national agencies.

The figure, anticipated in recent weeks by the media, was made official after the energy minister, Alekesandr Novak, supported the request and passed it to the ministry of economic development, which now has 20 days to examine it. The funds, if approved, will be collected from the welfare state fund (social security reserve amounting to 83.2 billion dollars) and. As explained by the deputy energy minister, Kirill Molozov, they would be used for investment and for the construction of a large petrochemical plant in the Russian far East. Rosneft suffers from heavy debt - more than Eur 30 billion.

Because of the American and European sanctions against Russia introduced in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, the company no longer has access to the Western European financial market.

(ANSA).