Danil Khachaturov buys Rosgosstrakh's state shares

Russian state has sold the last package of Rosgosstrakh to RGS-Aktivi - a company headed by Rosgostrakh's chairman, Russian-Armenian insurance and banking tycoon Danil Khachaturov and his partners.

The package that makes only 13.1 per cent of the total shares was acquired by 8.7 billion rubles ($286.4 million). No other company participated in the auction, according to Russian daily Vedomosti.

Before the auction Rosgostrakh had been estimated $2.2 billion USD, but the market players say the company won't sell at that price now.

According to his entry in Forbes' 2010 list of billionaires, Khachaturov and partners spent $60 million USD buying control of the then insolvent Rosgosstrakh from the government between 2001 and 2003. The company collected 60 billion rubles ($1.98 billion USD) in premiums last year, according to its website.

"What matters is that we did what we had promised to the state," Mr Khachaturov told the newspaper.

Experts say this signals the state may be loosening its grip on corporate Russia. State ownership or influence over Russian companies is regularly cited as a barrier for foreign investors concerned about their rights as minor shareholders.