Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo has not yet approved a syndicated loan of EUR 5.2 billion, issued to the oil trader Glencore and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to purchase 19.5% of shares of Rosneft. The chairman (the Russian subsidiary of Intesa) of Banca Intesa's Board of Directors Antonio Fallico informed about it on the sidelines of the investment forum in Sochi.

"We are not in a hurry," said Fallico. He added that "the 14 banks are interested [in participating in the syndicated loan]," but did not specify which countries they were from. He added that none of them are Russian banks. According to Fallico, "Rosneft is a very reliable partner, so we do not attract other banks, we are calm," he said, answering the question of which banks would syndicate the deal with the shares of Rosneft.

On January 25, President Vladimir Putin thanked the participants of the privatization of Rosneft for their confidence and assured in the successful development of their business: "I want to express my confidence that your business in Russia will develop and will develop successfully." Then, the meeting with Putin was attended by the CEO of Bank Intesa Carlo Messina.

In mid-February Fallico noted that Intesa wanted to attract 2.5-3 billion euros in loan syndication to Rosneft shares, as informed Reuters.

During the Italo-Russian business breakfast on Tuesday, Fallico said that three years of sanctions had complicated relationships, the trust was called into question, not only between countries but also between businesses. Nevertheless, the level of export turnover between Russia and Italy had increased, noted Fallico. "In 2017 we can not expect the lifting of sanctions. Overcoming bureaucratic process quickly, unfortunately, will not work," said Fallico.

Italian Ambassador to Russia Cesare Maria Ragalini noted that during the sanctions not a signle Italian company left Russia. According to him, this shows the strategic interest of Italy.

In addition, Intesa and Gazprombank fund this year are going to make three transactions at 120 million euros, said Fallico: EUR 40 million per each investment, two of which are in Russia, and one more is in Italy. "To find a good goal is not so easy ... It's high-tech sectors, a progressive retail," he added. But the final decision on the investment has not yet been adopted by the parties.

Intesa is also interested in buying a large bank in Russia. "We will look for an opportunity to acquire another bank, and if so, there will be additional capitalization. So far we've been looking for those banks that are universal to us, those who have the majority of corporate customers in the area of the block, " Fallico told journalists, answering the question of whether Intesa would capitalize the Russian subsidiary in 2017. "We believe that a small bank in a big country is a big risk, so if we will have a big bank in a big country, that means less risk for us," said Fallico.

Purchase of Rosneft shares

On January 3, Glencore and QIA closed the deal to buy 19.5% of shares of Rosneft. The package was sold for 692 billion rubles (EUR 10.2 billion). The budget received from the privatization of 710.8 billion rubles., The missing 18 billion rubles were paid by Rosneftegas through additional dividends. Intesa said that it had given the customers a credit of up to EUR 5.2 billion. The scheme of financing the transaction was cleared by the documents of JV Glencore and QIA (Singapore QHG Shares Limited). The credit for the purchase of shares of Rosneft was given to the Singapore company by VTB under the acquired shares of Rosneft. Rosneftegas later had the right requirements for the loan transferred to it. On January 3, the consortium of Glencore and QIA acquired a stake in Rosneft: Rosneftegas withdrew the pledge from the shares.