| State company leased Chechen assets Rosneft managed to defend the equipment that the company uses to work in Chechnya. Back in January, this property, formally owned by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Chechenneftekhimprom, but actually used by Rosneft, was seized for further sale to third parties. However, the state oil company, having gone to court, was able to get the seizure of the assets lifted and yesterday announced that it had entered into a lease agreement with Chechenneftekhimprom for the property of the oil and gas complex of the republic.
A subsidiary of Rosneft, Grozneftegaz, operates in Chechnya; 51% of its shares belong to the state company, 49% to the administration of the republic. When the company was created, according to the resolution of the Ministry of Property, oil and gas complex facilities were to be transferred to it. However, instead they became the property of Chechenneftekhimprom, formed in 2001 by order of the same ministry. True, Rosneft actually used the infrastructure, but its right was not formally secured. Neither the Ministry of Property nor Rosneft can explain why this situation persisted for several years.
Last year, several creditors of enterprises included in Chechenneftekhimprom went to court, trying to recover 850 million rubles. (the market value of the property used by Grozneftegaz is about 2 billion rubles). As a result, in January of this year, the court seized the company's property for its further sale. At the same time, Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov sent a letter to the Prosecutor General’s Office addressed to its head, Vladimir Ustinov. But the company finally managed to solve this problem: the holding says that back in April the court lifted the arrest, decided to suspend trading, and now a lease agreement has been concluded with Chechenneftekhimprom. True, the creditors did not withdraw their demands, but Rosneft hopes that there will be no further litigation on this issue.
As indicated in the company's statement, Grozneftegaz intends to increase oil production in the republic this year by 11%, to 2 million tons, and gas production by 12%, to 510 million cubic meters. The company intends to build metering units at all oil parks. In addition, the company intends, in particular, to complete the construction of a school in the village of Aleroy for 320 places and a 70-apartment residential building in Grozny.
It is obvious that Rosneft intends to resolve in the near future the issue of ownership of the property used by Grozneftegaz. As is known, the deceased President of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, expressed the opinion that oil production in the region should be controlled by the administration of the republic. It is still impossible to predict what position the new administration of the region will take, but Rosneft seems to intend to offer a solution that suits both sides. Denis REBROV |
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