MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. Russian oil major Rosneft will abide by any decision of the country’s leadership regarding Bashneft privatization, its official representative and vice president Mikhail Leontyev told TASS Wednesday.

"The company will abide by any decision made by the country’s leadership," he said.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has postponed Bashneft privatization. According to PM’s Press Secretary Natalia Timakova, the decision has been approved by the president.

Initially Rosneft’s interest to the state-owned stake in Bashneft was reported by sources while on August 5 the information was officially confirmed by Economic Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev, who added that "its participation in the privatization is not reasonable."

Rosneft’ potential application has spurred heated discussion. In end-July 2016, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said a decision had been made not to allow companies directly or indirectly controlled by the state, including Rosneft, to the privatization process. However, Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that technically Rosneft is not a state-owned company. Presidential aide Andrei Belousov who is Rosneft’s head of board of directors said the potential acquisition of Bashneft stake by Rosneft is "nonsense."