Russian oil producer Russneft said on Thursday that it had no plans to merge with Neftisa, but said the idea had been discussed many times.
Russneft was responding after sources told Reuters that Russia's top state lender Sberbank opposed a plan by billionaire Mikhail Gutseriyev to merge his oil assets, Russneft and Neftisa, into one firm and replace co-owner Glencore.
Russneft said in a statement on Thursday that Glencore would remain its main partner.
"The idea of uniting Russneft and Neftisa has been spoken of many times, but for now the idea remains an idea and there are no plans to actually implement it," the statement said.
Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva Writing by Andrew Osborn