Shares in Rosneft were up 1.7  per cent on Wednesday, boosted by a buyback plan that is widely seen in Russia as preparation for the state-controlled group’s planned controversial stock- swap with BP.The modest $200m stock buyback announced late on Tuesday is hardly a game-changer in the context of the multi-billion dollar dispute raging around the proposed Rosneft-BP deal and the opposition generated from BP’s existing Russian partner, AAR. But, given the timing, it looks like Rosneft is increasing the pressure to try to secure a deal.