ASTANA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan has submitted a

formal bid to the U.S. authorities to acquire Russian oil

producer Lukoil's stakes in the ‌country's energy

projects, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said on ​Wednesday.

Lukoil was sanctioned by the U.S. ‍last October in what

Washington ⁠said was ⁠a response to slow progress in peace talks

between ‌Russia and Ukraine. ​The move has forced the oil major to

dispose of its ⁠overseas assets.

The Russian ‍oil ​group holds stakes in Kazakhstan's

Karachaganak and Tengiz oilfields, as well as in ‍the Caspian

Pipeline Consortium, which carries the bulk of Kazakhstan's oil

to the Russian port of Novorossiysk for export.

Akkenzhenov said the government had sent a ​letter ‍to the

U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which, under the

U.S. ​sanctions, must approve potential transactions.

Kazakhstan has said it holds preemption rights on buying out

Lukoil.

"The energy ministry has sent the corresponding request by

letter to OFAC," the minister said.

Lukoil ​has until February 28 to sell its assets, under the

U.S. sanctions.