LJUBLJANA, June 11 (Reuters) - Slovenia's largest fuel retailer Petrol jumped almost 7 percent in early trade on Thursday after Russian oil giant Gazprom revealed it had been approached about buying a stake in Petrol.
Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller said on Wednesday that no decision had been taken about the company's interest in Petrol but added that it had received an offer to buy it.
By 0900 GMT shares of Petrol jumped 6.83 percent to 309.8 euros ($434.7) while the blue-chip SBI index rose 0.8 percent.
Energy and tourism group Istrabenz, which holds a 4 percent stake in Petrol, told Reuters on Monday it had formed a consortium with several local banks which would offer for sale some 20 to 25 percent of Petrol, but on Thursday would not say whether the consortium offered the stake to Gazprom.
The local unit of Italian bank Unicredit, which is also believed to be in the consortium and owns a stake of about 1.3 percent in Petrol, declined to comment on Thursday.
"Petrol jumped because of Gazprom's revelation but we do not know what stake is on sale, who is offering it and whether Gazprom is indeed interested in the purchase. Until we know more, we cannot say where the share will move in the future," Matjaz Bernik of brokerage Ilirika told Reuters.
Minister of Economy Matej Lahovnik told TV Slovenia late on Wednesday that he did not know who offered a stake in Petrol to Gazprom but said the state's stake in the company was not for sale. State investment funds own 28 percent of Petrol.
Petrol is Slovenia's fourth largest listed company and has market capitalisation of some 592 million euros. It operates 428 filling stations in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro. ($1=.7126 Euro) (Reporting by Marja Novak; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)