| No one wants to buy Yukos assets Just as in a hanged man’s house they don’t talk about rope, so Russian oil workers for a very long time and carefully kept silent about what they would do in the event of a sale of YUKOS assets. The confidence that part of YUKOS's assets will go under the hammer is growing stronger among market participants every day. Actually, even the company's managers are ready for this - according to them, the holding will have about $2 billion to cover the claims of the Tax Ministry, but YUKOS is not able to immediately pay the $3.4 billion required by the tax authorities. However, for the second day now, the largest Russian concerns have been convincing the public that they have no intention of rushing like vultures to what will be left of their partner after the trials. Yesterday, LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov said that YUKOS assets “are not an object for investment.” A day earlier, Gazprom issued a similar statement.
But all these assurances came only after two Gazprom managers “let it slip” on Wednesday. Let us recall that Vlada Rusakova, a member of the board of the concern and head of the strategic development department, said at a briefing that Gazprom could buy YUKOS assets if they were put up for sale. She was supported by the head of the concern’s property management department, Nikolai Vasiliev, who met with Gazprom shareholders in Yekaterinburg the next day. “We will be primarily interested in YUKOS gas assets,” he noted. After statements by two representatives of the gas company appeared on news feeds, a scandal erupted in it: Chairman of the Board Alexey Miller, who returned from Israel from negotiations, personally held a “debriefing” with the “guilty ones.” As a result, the company issued a press release refuting the statements of its top managers. Ms. Rusakova’s statement is proposed to be considered her personal position. Moreover, Ms. Rusakova was absent from yesterday’s briefing at Gazprom (although her participation was initially planned), apparently, precisely after a tough conversation with the head of the concern.
“We are not considering YUKOS facilities,” Interfax reports the words of Vagit Alekperov, which he said yesterday in Penza. All other large companies flatly refused to comment on their possible interest in his assets. “Here Gazprom is still disentangling its comments,” said a representative of one of the holdings in an informal conversation.
Of course, this does not mean that oil workers do not believe in the possibility of redistributing YUKOS or that in the event of such a redistribution, the assets of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s company will remain ownerless. Now is clearly not the time to just publicly reveal your interest. “If the sale does happen, then, of course, it will be of interest to everyone,” admits a representative of one of the oil holdings. “I think that Mr. Alekperov’s statement has a largely political connotation,” says Natalya Odintsova, head of the analytical department of Prospekt Investment Company. -- YUKOS has a lot of good assets, so it is unlikely that other large oil companies will refuse if they are offered to purchase these assets at an acceptable price. However, now no one knows under what scenario further events will develop. And when selling assets begins, it is very important to understand who will sell what, when and at what price, if at all. LUKOIL may change its decision many times, but first it will look at who else is in line.”
The queue in this case is indeed a very important factor. If we assume that the Sibneft stake will finally return to Roman Abramovich, then the first in the “political queue” for producing assets are Gazprom, Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz. LUKOIL, according to Zenit Bank analyst Sergei Suverov, will be interested in the Yukos fields located in Western Siberia and owned by a subsidiary of the Yuganskneftegaz holding. “In addition, LUKOIL should be interested in acquiring an oil refinery that is part of the structure of the Lithuanian company Mazeikiu nafta (YUKOS controls 53% of the shares of this holding and is the operator of the plant. - Ed. ). After all, LUKOIL is starting production at the D-6 field in the Baltic Sea, and has already tried to acquire this asset before,” says the expert. Analysts also note that the network of gas stations owned by the holding is a “tidbit” for all domestic oil workers. Andrey DENISOV, Denis REBROV |
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