UFA, September 30. /ITAR-TASS/. The Public Chamber of the Urals Republic of Bashkortostan will submit a proposal within a week to the regional legislature on transferring a blocking interest in oil company Bashneft to the republic’s ownership, Chamber Chairman Ramil Bignov said on Tuesday.

The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office insists on returning Bashneft to state ownership, saying the company was privatized in 2009 with violations of legislation. “Bashneft posted a net income of about 60 billion rubles (about $1.7 billion) last year. If the region receives a blocking package of shares, the republic could receive at least 20 billion rubles for development,” Bignov said. “This is quite possible, but the process is difficult,” he noted.

The Bashkortostan Public Chamber head said the republic would receive nothing from what would be assigned to federal ownership. “The region has no resources for development, and that is why we are proposing to find acceptable options of cooperation with Moscow, which would also be advantageous for Bashkortostan,” he said.

One option is to transfer a blocking package of shares to the republic with the right to get dividends, while the controlling stake should be left in federal ownership, he said.

Bashkortostan head Rustem Khamitov earlier voiced his full support for the prosecutors’ intention to restore state ownership of Bashkortostan’s fuel and energy enterprises. “I want to say it in simple terms: the republic was fooled during the privatization of Bashneft. As the republic’s leaders, we are interested in the return of the Bashneft assets to state ownership so that justice should triumph in this sphere,” Khamitov said at the time.