| Sergei Bogdanchikov and Igor Sechin took billions of dollars from bankers Rosneft and its only state shareholder, Rosneftegaz, finally took out a $7.5 billion loan yesterday from ABN Amro Bank, Drezdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. This deal, necessary for the state to pay Gazprom for 10.7% of its shares, was timed to coincide with Vladimir Putin’s visit to Germany and was signed a few hours before his arrival. At the ceremony, which took place in Berlin's most expensive hotel, the Adlon, the Russian side was attended not only by Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov, but also by his boss, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Igor Sechin.
The ceremony of signing the loan agreement took place without journalists, but, apparently, it was quite solemn. Her protocol looked like this. At exactly noon Berlin time, “the participants are seated in the order in which they signed the document.” Then “an official greeting from the client and the banks”: Mr. Clodwig Reuther from DrKW speaks, “Mr. Clodwig Reuther gives the floor to Mr. Dmitry Dobatkin from Linklaters (law firm - Ed. ), who will begin the signing process.” The next paragraphs of the program are “Linklaters briefly explains the signing procedure” and “Linklaters confirms successful signing.” Mr. Wilko Jiskot from ABN Amro bank says “words of congratulations to Rosneftegaz.” On the part of Igor Sechin, there follows a “toast and response to the banks.”
After this, the part of the ceremony begins that does not require regulation by legal advisers. Participants of the event move from the Fireplace Hall to the Federal Hall for lunch. "Mr. Fozi Kyriakos-Saad from JP Morgan makes a short speech. Reply from Mr. Sergei Bogdanchikov. Refreshments are served. After this, Sir David Walker from Morgan Stanley has the opportunity to make a toast. Reply from Mr. Nikolai Borisenko (Head of Rosneftegaz ", Vice President of Rosneft. - Ed . The main course is served. Dessert and coffee are served individually," read the protocol of the event.
Then a small press conference of Russian participants took place. Mr. Sechin did not come out to reporters and was in the corridors of a Berlin hotel. Mr. Bogdanchikov, on the contrary, was not shy about journalists and in every possible way emphasized the high status of the deal and the companies that concluded it. “This is the largest loan ever provided to a Russian borrower,” he said. -- Creditor banks will work together with Rosneft to transform it into a public company. Attracting a loan indicates that Russian and foreign investors believe in the progressive development of the Russian economy, believe in the development of the energy sector, in particular the oil and gas industry, believe in the transformations in the economic sphere that are being successfully implemented in our country.”
It is noteworthy that none of the officials spoke yesterday regarding the terms of the loan. However, in general terms they were clear even before the signing of the agreement with the banks - the loan is issued for a year, transferred in one tranche, the collateral is a non-controlling stake in Rosneft, as well as the export revenue of the oil company, from which the loan will be repaid.
The Russian side intends to pay off the loan from Rosneft’s export earnings, although, of course, it may well be that it will be necessary to sell part of the shares of this oil company. Mr. Bogdanchikov has already repeated several times that Rosneft is preparing to sell shares - he first said this in Tuapse earlier this week during Vladimir Putin’s visit to the company’s enterprises, indicating that the attention of the country’s president will significantly increase the price of securities, and Yesterday he shared these plans with journalists. And when asked whether a merger of Gazprom and Rosneft is planned in the future, the head of the oil company said: “The question falls within the competence of the owner, which is the Russian state and the Russian government. Previously, the government managed its property quite zealously, carefully and effectively. Let's hope this will continue to be the case in the future. The plans outlined by the Russian government, the Russian state regarding the development of projects that increase the capitalization of the Russian state-owned companies Rosneft and Gazprom will be implemented.” Yuri Shpakov, Berlin, Ivan GORDEEV |
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