Russia's state railway operator Russian Railways has approved the sale of stakes in its Freight One and Transcontainer units, eyeing proceeds of some $4.5 billion, chairman Alexander Zhukov told reporters.

Zhukov said Russian Railways wants to raise at least 115.5 billion roubles ($4.08 billion) from the sale of 75 percent in Freight One and 10.7 billion roubles from a sale of a 10 percent Transcontainer stake.

The company raised close to $400 million via the IPO of cargo unit TransContainer last November and has been an active borrower on capital markets as it seeks funding to invest in new infrastructure. (Reuters)