ITERA wants to get access to Western capital. For the sake of this, it becomes transparent Vladimir MARTYNENKO is no longer the vice-president of ITERA Holding. In the West, there are no positions of presidents and vice-presidents in holding companies, and therefore in ...

ITERA wants to get access to Western capital. For this she becomes transparent

IN

Vladimir MARTYNENKO is no longer Vice President of ITERA Holding. In the West, there are no positions of presidents and vice-presidents in holding companies, and therefore these posts have been abolished in ITERA Holding. Martynenko is now a member of the board and head of the Information and Analytical Center.

In this interview with Novaya Gazeta, Vladimir Ivanovich spoke about the changes taking place in the ITERA International Group of Companies (MGK). Questions like “Did ITERA steal Gazprom’s assets?” we did not: after checking ITERA by international auditors and the Accounts Chamber, they would have sounded out of place. We started the conversation with something else: does the gas we use to cook food at home reach the burners in the same way as it is produced in the fields?

- No, not the same. Natural gas is odorless. But in order for us to feel it at home, if, God forbid, a leak occurs, a fragrance is added to it at gas distribution stations, which gives the gas a smell. On highways it goes clean. But before that, at the place of extraction, it is drained and cleaned of impurities. For example, there is a lot of sulfur in Central Asian gas.

- So, its quality is lower than that of our Siberian?

— No, the chemical formula is the same. It's just that gas producers on site have to work extra to clean it up.

— Since we have already mentioned Asian, Turkmen gas, let me ask you a question that is still raised in the media and remains unanswered. If the transit of Turkmen gas goes through Gazprom's pipes, why is ITERA's link inserted into the Turkmenistan-Ukraine chain? We earn money on mediation, right?

- Of course, we make money. But it's not as easy money as it seems. By the way, we have already answered this question a hundred times, but in some media it seems that they stubbornly do not understand simple things ... Before getting into the Gazprom pipe, gas from Turkmenistan goes through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. These sovereign states charge cash for transit - about six dollars for every thousand cubic meters of gas is spent on the "Central Asian" route. No matter how rich Gazprom is, it doesn't have extra dollars. Further, for pumping through the Russian pipe, ITERA pays Gazprom $12 per thousand cubic meters, two and a half times more than Gazprom would pay itself. Thus, now Gazprom is receiving additional income from ITERA - almost half a billion dollars a year. Exclude "ITERA" - "Gazprom", and hence the state will spend the currency in Central Asia, lose it in transit. Only an effective intermediary, ITERA, can ensure gas supplies from Turkmenistan to consumers in the CIS. I'm not talking about working with the debts of such a buyer as Ukraine ...

— How do you explain your success in collecting payments from Ukrainian gas consumers? If ITERA could find money in Ukraine, then Gazprom could…

Theoretically, maybe. Practically, I couldn't. Ukraine has always found it difficult to find "live" money, but for a long time it has been offering a variety of payment options for goods. Gazprom did not know how to take goods as payment in order to then look for sales for it. Barter is a headache for him. ITERA, on the other hand, is more flexible in this sense, and we have made it so that now Ukraine pays current payments in full. True, there are debts of a number of Ukrainian enterprises for deliveries of previous years, but this problem is also being gradually resolved. We have won a number of cases in international arbitration in Stockholm, and its next ruling is now being considered by the Ukrainian arbitration…

— Now about your international status. As far as I understand, ITERA's international nature lies in the fact that it has the features of a transnational corporation: assets in Russia and the CIS, and the parent company is registered in the West...

— And we are a transnational corporation. We work in many countries, and in order to ensure the transparency of ITERA operations to local authorities, we register companies, including managers, on the spot in accordance with the laws of these countries. The decision to establish a subsidiary in a certain region, of course, is made based on economic benefits.

— Why is your parent company registered in the Netherlands Antilles, and not in a non-offshore zone?

— This was done on the recommendation of a law firm serving the ITERA International Group of Companies. Personally, I have not seen these recommendations, but I have no doubts about their validity.

— Who stands at the origins of ITERA? Who are the shareholders of her parent company now?

- Part of the shares, 69%, is managed by two trust funds, the other, 31%, is owned by individuals, these are twelve people, all of them have already been opened to the press ...

- Citizens of which countries?

- The United States, Switzerland, Russia ... Although Igor Makarov, the president of the group, cannot be called a 100% citizen of Russia, because ...

“I heard he is a US citizen…

- No. Otherwise, why would he need to get an entry visa to this country every time? In the USA, as well as in Switzerland, in Cyprus, in Belarus, and so on, he happens quite often, but he is not a citizen of the USA or other countries. This is as true as the fact that I am sitting here in front of you now… But Makarov has the title of honorary citizen of Turkmenistan…

Okay, what about trust funds? Who gave them the shares?

These are the same citizens. The funds manage a part of the shares, the dividends on which will be further distributed in favor of the managers, depending on their contribution to the development of ITERA International Group of Companies. Everything is quite simple - in accordance with the laws of the Netherlands ...

- Of course, it's simple: a conglomerate of one hundred and twenty companies, including offshore ones ...

“Actually, there are more than a hundred and thirty. This is international business... You seem to be an economist? Well, then you understand me. Business needs an effective management scheme.

- A couple of years ago, in an interview, the head of Wimm-Bill-Dann said that their assets are scattered across different balance sheets, blocks of shares are confused by cross-ownership, etc. - specifically in order to slow down the process of weaning factories, if one begins with a change in the domestic political situation. Did ITERA do the same?

- No. From the very beginning, ITERA companies were created only for economic expediency... And now we are working with the goal of entering the international capital market in two or three years.

— Will you issue ADRs for Russian shares or issue them there?

- There. We have not yet decided which exchange to enter, New York or London.

— Where will ITERA eventually be “registered”? IN THE USA?

- It has not been decided yet, lawyers are working. But overpaying for registration, say, in Bern or Rome, only because of the prestige is considered inappropriate. You can register anywhere, for example, in Ukraine. The issue is economic feasibility.

Where will you pay taxes? From operations with Russian gas.

Where there is business, there are taxes. ITERA-Rus pays taxes to the Russian budget, while ITERA-Ukraine pays taxes to the Ukrainian one. Everything is legal, logical and simple.

— So, ITERA is going to sell its shares in the West. To achieve a good price, you need to open to investors what they are investing in.

Of course, and we are working on it now. Passed the due diligence procedure - a meticulous check of all shareholders and managers of ITERA International Group of Companies by the international company Strang Hayes Consulting, specializing in this…

- I read their verdict on the Internet: there was something like “nothing illegal, compromising or suspicious is contained in the biographies of shareholders and managers.”

- That's right, this is the exact wording - "does not contain." And then skeptics change it: “not found”, and immediately comment: they say, they searched badly. This is an independent Western expert company! Then, we provide information about ourselves to everyone, even law enforcement agencies. After all, if you hide something, it will be revealed later, and some investment bank will change the decision, quotes will fall, and we are building a business plan, a strategy ...

Why would the Americans, Germans and French buy your shares if your gas from the Yamalo-Nenets District is not sold to the West?

— Indeed, now ITERA gas, both produced in Russia and purchased in Turkmenistan, is not exported to Europe. Turkmen gas goes to the CIS countries, and we sell gas from the YNAO to the Baltic countries, Belarus and the Sverdlovsk region. By the way, due to the decline in production at Gazprom, the industry in this region could be on a starvation ration. ITERA made up for the deficit in the country's internal gas balance with its supplies.

— But you are increasingly demanding access to the export pipe on the principle that is now used in the oil industry — in proportion to gas production.

— Yes, ITERA is raising the issue of the possibility of exporting natural gas to Europe by independent producers in the amount, as you rightly said, proportional to production. This is a fair principle. We have many similar problems with our colleagues from Gazprom: the profitability of deliveries to the domestic market is very low, high taxes, and significant costs. But if Gazprom can cover losses from sales within the country at the expense of export profits and still has money for investments from the state, then we are deprived of such an opportunity. However, ITERA's share in Russian gas production is already quite noticeable, and, accordingly, the importance of the effective development of our company is great for the country. Just imagine: if Iter gas is removed from Russia's gas balance, what will happen? How to replace such a volume? Maybe wood? Will not work. I am sure that both the Russian authorities and their colleagues from Gazprom will come to an understanding of these things. As for Western investors, ITERA is already attractive to them. But you will see what will happen in two or three years.