"We should focus on (Rosneft)", Shuvalov said. "When the stake in Rosneft is sold, we (the government) will return to selling a stake in Bashneft as we have the president's order to privatise it."

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday unexpectedly postponed indefinitely the plans to privatise Bashneft, which had created tensions over whether state-run Rosneft should be allowed to buy a stake in its rival.

Bashneft's