China on Thursday denied providing any fund for the controversial purchase of Russia's oil giant Yukos but declined to give more information on the mystery deal.
"My answer to your question is very clear. China has not provided any fund for the Russian company for the purchase of the assets of Yukos," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan told reporters when asked about reports that China lent $6 billion for the takeover of Yukos by Rosneft, a mid-sized Russian state-run oil firm.
"Secondly, whether China has provided any convenience or any other help in the purchase of Yukos, I should say I have no more information to share with you," Kong said repeatedly to questions on the deal which reportedly provided energy-hungry China with guaranteed oil supplies.
On Wednesday, reports from Moscow said that China financed the takeover of Russian oil giant Yukos's main asset in return for oil supplies to the energy-hungry Asian giant.
Even China's official Xinhua news agency had carried the report.
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin had told reporters that Chinese banks had lent Russia's Vnesheconombank $6 billion to enable it in turn to provide financing to Rosneft.
