Thank you, Shell, free ...

Gazprom’s receipt in the Sakhalin-2 project is officially confirmed by Shell's refusal to fight the Sakhalin-2 project yesterday commented on the state officials. According to Dmitry Medvedev, the first deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom, the gas monopolist intends to get 50% in the oil and gas project Sakhalin-2, having calculated for this share of cash or assets. Dmitry Medvedev made such a statement in Moscow during a press conference for foreign journalists. In particular, he noted that negotiations "can be completed in the near future."

The Minister of Industry and Energy of Russia Viktor Khristenko, who also gave a press conference yesterday for foreign media, said that Russia and participants in the Sakhalin-2 SRP project may come to an agreement regarding the project budget in the first quarter of 2007. “We would like the statement of estimates to occur no later than within the first quarter,” he said. The Minister confirmed that the Russian supervisory authorities will continue to control the environmental and technical situation in SRP projects. Khristenko noted that the entry of Gazprom is not related to the approval of the project estimate. “The participation or non -participation of Gazprom is a separate story that has nothing to do with it,” he said. According to the head of the Ministry of Industry, the new estimate of Sakhalin-2 in case of its approval will reduce the income of the Russian Federation by several billion dollars. It will also pushing the deadline for Russia to receive profitable products by the project for two to three years.

It is worth noting that the negotiations of Gazprom and Shell were interrupted in connection with the uncertainty of the estimate of the cost of the project. Now, whatever the government’s decision on the estimate, one thing is clear - Gazprom will enter the project quite easily. Participants in the SCP today have practically no choice but to agree to all the conditions of the Russian gas monopolist if they do not want to lose everything. It is noteworthy that Medvedev himself yesterday stated that Gazprom did not intend to pay for the entry into Sakhalin-2 “any price”. Probably, after the meeting of the head of Shell Yerun Van der Van, with the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, unresolved, only the price of the price remained.

According to Maxim Shein, the head of the analytical department of Broker Creditservice, given that the entire project cost $ 20 billion, $ 10 billion of which has already been invested, then the 30 percent share of Shell can cost about $ 3-4 billion. “Accordingly, if Japanese companies also sell part of their Gazprom packages, then the total cost of 50% of Sakhalin Energy can be estimated At $ 5 billion , ”the expert notes. At the same time, Maxim Shein in a conversation with the newspaper emphasized that this price is hardly acceptable for Gazprom. Rosprirodnadzor will help to bring down the cost of a package for the holding.

Yesterday, the deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor, Oleg Mitvol, very incidentally stated that the damage from the actions of the Sakhalin-2 project operator is estimated at $ 10 billion. According to Mitvol, the final assessment of the damage will be given by the fall of next year, and Rosprirodnadzor plans to apply not only to Russian courts, but also to international arbitration in Stockholm. The official also noted that according to the laws of the United States from the company, you can demand to compensate for damage in a triple size.

“I note that the“ Yukos case ”once began with such amounts. Even if in court the amount of claims is reduced, their repayment may simply ruin the project. Recent events impose that the current participants can offer forgiveness of the claims of Rosprirodnadzor as a payment for control in the project, ”said Maxim Shein. In any case, even if such a scenario has not been implemented, the opinion that the “face” of the Kremlin will suffer from the surrender of Shell today, no one is excited, and the foreign press is replete with headlines that “Royal Dutch Shell is reconciled with the inevitable robbery, for the most Russian state”.

12.12.2006 / Irina Kezik, the material was published in the newspaper No. 229 dated 12/13/2006.