| Rosneft received shares of its subsidiaries Sibneft and the state-owned Rosneft came to a compromise on the issue of managing the Rosneft-Stavropolneftegaz company. Structures close to Sibneft shareholders decided to sell 26% of the shares of this company to Rosneft itself. According to a source in oil circles of the Vremya Novostei newspaper, the deal has not yet been completed, but the first tranches have passed. The source did not disclose the price of the transaction. Valery Nesterov from Troika Dialog believes that the maximum transaction amount in any case did not exceed $30 million.
Sibneft has long laid claim to the assets of Rosneft's subsidiaries (the state is in no hurry to sell shares of the parent company itself). Since 2000, it has managed to consolidate 26% of the Stavropol “subsidiary” of the state oil company. In addition, it was alleged that the shareholders of 15% of Rosneft-Purneftegaz acted in the interests of Mr. Abramovich’s company: about 8% were Boris Jordan’s Sputnik group and about 6% were structures controlled by State Duma deputy Evgeny Ishchenko. However, a month ago, Rosneft bought shares from the Sputnik group, and almost immediately, according to sources of the Vremya Novostei newspaper, an agreement was reached to buy back shares of Rosneft-Stavropolneftegaz.
Both Rosneft and Sibneft refuse to comment on the situation; the press secretary of the state-owned company, Alexander Stepanenko, only says that the relationship has been settled.
The truce became possible after the Association for the Protection of the Rights of Minority Shareholders of Rosneft's subsidiaries arose, which began active work, drawing the attention of government agencies and the media to various violations by the state oil company. “A specific information background was created,” says the source, “even President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with the head of Rosneft Sergei Bogdanchikov, was forced to inquire about the relationship with minority shareholders.” True, Mr. Putin did not speak out in support of one side or another.
The information campaign, apparently, forced Mr. Bogdanchikov to change the company's policy towards disgruntled shareholders of its subsidiaries. Sibneft had to agree to Rosneft’s offer and sell 26% of the Stavropol company.
However, the sale of Stavropolneftegaz shares can hardly be called the final reconciliation of the companies. Experts do not rule out that the conflict between Sibneft and Rosneft has not yet come to an end. Nikolay GORELOV |
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