Disappointed analysts have already labeled Surgutneftegaz as a "regional company" - it has been pumping oil in the Khanty-Mansiysk District for 10 years, refining it in the Leningrad Region, and is not getting involved anywhere else. All the talk of its managers about the company's entry into the Timan-Pechora Province or Yakutia has already been forgotten, and the Surgut residents themselves have given up the fight for Slavneft. The company's extreme caution and circumspection - generally good qualities - have already turned into shortcomings, especially against the backdrop of its competitors - risky and sharp-toothed.

But last week, a "new" Surgut appeared to them - it unexpectedly won the tender for the large Talakan oil field, for which YUKOS, TNK, and Slavneft were fighting. Moreover, this tender, which was won two years ago, was won in the Yakut arbitration court - Surgutneftegaz lawyers convinced the judge that, although the results of the first tender for Talakan were cancelled because the winner did not pay the bonus, in fact it was necessary to simply award the victory to the next contender in line - Surgutneftegaz. To confirm the fairness of this approach, the court - a precedent case - decided to rely on the procedure for distributing licenses for mobile operators. As a result, the oil company will receive a permanent license for Talakan for $61 million. This is 5 cents per barrel of reserves, says Troika Dialog analyst Valery Nesterov, although at the auction the price could have risen to 20 - 25 cents. Last year, not only five Russian companies, including Gazprom, but also TotalFinaElf were planning to compete for Talakan.

The head of Surgutneftegaz, Vladimir Bogdanov, did promise to sue for the field if the company Sakhaneftegaz, which beat him in the tender, did not pay its bonus. However, he did so only after more than two years. And only when the Ministry of Natural Resources took away Sakhaneftegaz's temporary license for Talakan, and YUKOS itself was decapitated by the Prosecutor General's Office.

"Surgut" patiently waited for its moment of glory and achieved justice. People are already starting to talk about Bogdanov, a staunch statist and long-time opponent of Khodorkovsky, as the new favorite of the authorities in the oil industry. But here's the problem - restoring justice for "Surgut" will cost the budget at least $150 million - after all, the license for Talakan was supposed to be put up for tender next year. For now, officials promise to challenge the decision of the Yakut court. And it is the outcome of this dispute that will show whether "Surgut" is really a new "star".

Tatyana Lysova

COMPANY OF THE WEEK: New Star