Russian President Vladimir Putin has blessed a full takeover by state oil major Rosneft of Anglo-Russian oil venture TNK-BP , calling it a good deal at a good price.

Mr Putin was speaking at a meeting with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, who said Rosneft had agreed to buy 100 per cent of TNK-BP from its shareholders, British oil major BP and the AAR consortium representing four Soviet-born tycoons.

In a statement, Rosneft said it would pay $28 billion for AAR's one-half stake in TNK-BP, which Mr Sechin said would be comparable in value to the cash and stock deal buyout of BP's stake.

Reuters