VIENNA -- Russian state oil company Rosneft confirmed Wednesday it had signed a deal for it and two other Russian oil enterprises to take a 24 percent stake in a new oil refinery in Leuna, eastern Germany.


Rosneft deputy chairman Ilya Leshchinets said at an oil conference here that Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz and Megionneftegaz had signed the deal last Sunday.


The Russian stake in the deal would probably take the form of crude oil supplies, but that aspect had yet to be finalized, Leshchinets said during a break in the conference.


"It is of little importance whether our contribution comes in the form of crude oil or hard currency. Crude oil is like hard currency, so this question is not really a problem," he said.


Asked how important this deal was for the Russian oil industry, Leshchinets said his country needed new markets for its petroleum products.


"For more than half a year, domestic demand for oil products has been shrinking dramatically. This is a question of vital importance for us."


Leshchinets said the planned capacity of the refinery was around 10 million tons per year.


France's Elf Aquitaine has been seeking to reduce its two-thirds stake in the Leuna refinery project, which has an estimated cost of 4.5 billion Deutsche marks ($2.67 billion), to between 30 and 40 percent.