Russian state-controlled oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) said Thursday it closed a deal to buy a 35.5% stake in the Taas-Yuryakh project in East Siberia for $444 million from state lender OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS).

Rosneft signed a preliminary purchase agreement with Sberbank last month.

Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha holds production licenses for the Srednebotuobinsk oil and gas condensate field, which is situated 160 kilometers north of the East Siberian-Pacific Ocean, or ESPO, pipeline.

Until 2009, the 35.3% stake in Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha was held by mid-sized oil producer Urals Energy, which had to hand the asset to Sberbank during the 2008-2009 financial crisis to cover overdue loans.

-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 232-9197, jacob.pedersen@dowjones.com