Putin awards Glasenberg "Order of Friendship" after Rosneft deal

LONDON (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded state honors to executives at Glencore Plc, the Qatar Investment Authority, and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA months after the $11 billion deal to buy a minority stake in state oil company Rosneft PJSC.

In an online order published by the Russian government on Monday, Putin gave Russia’s Order of Friendship to Glencore Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg, Qatari royal Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani and Intesa executives including Chief Executive Officer Carlo Messina for their “great contribution to strengthening cooperation with Russia.” Antonio Fallico, chairman of Banca Intesa Russia, was awarded the Order of Honour.

In December, Putin unveiled the deal for Glencore and the Qatari fund to buy a 19.5% stake in Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, using loans from Intesa. Putin met Glasenberg, Al Thani and Messina at the Kremlin in January, thanking them for their roles in the privatization of Rosneft.

“I want to express my confidence that your business in Russia will develop and will develop successfully,” Putin said.

Peter Grauer, the chairman of Bloomberg LP, is a senior independent non-executive director at Glencore.