Players

Players

MY OWN GAME
Energy workers gained control over Power Machines
Last week, RAO UES of Russia completed a transaction to purchase 22.43% of OAO Power Machines (SM) from Interros and became the owner of a blocking stake in its shares. According to Interros deputy general director Sergei Batekhin, the company is going to begin negotiations on the sale of part of its remaining shares with a foreign investor. Most likely, it will be Siemens.
The acquisition cost $101.4 million - KPMG was involved as an independent appraiser for SM, which set the upper limit of the market value of shares at $107 million. RAO also announced that it had acquired the right to vote 30.41% of SM shares on the basis of a power of attorney, the procedure and conditions for issuing which stipulated in a separate agreement with Interros. As Sergei Batekhin stated, the agreement on joint management of 30.41% of SM shares by RAO and Interros does not provide for the possibility of selling this stake to RAO. “We will jointly manage these shares for two years. Then it will become clear what to do with them,” he noted.
However, according to Batekhin, if RAO is reorganized before this and ceases to exist, it has the right to entrust management of 30.41% of SM shares to its successor companies. He also said that Interros intends to begin negotiations on the sale of part of its remaining shares (about 21%) with a foreign strategic investor.
The foreign investor in SM will most likely be the German concern Siemens. At the end of October, the Ministry of Industry and Energy announced that Siemens intends to apply to the Federal Antimonopoly Service with an application to purchase 25% plus one share of SM. Mr. Batekhin did not comment on this possibility, saying that all issues relating to the future of SM will be considered by the company’s board of directors.
DMITRY BELIKOV

REFEREE TEAM
Ukraine and Russia entrusted gas to their presidents
The presidents of both countries began discussing Russian gas supplies to Ukraine in 2006, after which Vladimir Putin’s press service announced that he “expressed satisfaction with Viktor Yushchenko’s position” on this issue. Their telephone conversation was preceded by another “exchange of pleasantries” between Gazprom and Naftogaz of Ukraine.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine last week published an addendum dated August 9, 2004 to the intergovernmental agreement of both countries, which fixed the rate of payment for the transit of Russian gas in the amount of $1.09375 per 1 thousand cubic meters. m of gas per 100 km, which is not subject to change by the parties from 2005 to 2009, and the price of Russian gas, which is provided by Gazprom to ensure the balance of Ukrainian gas in payment for transit services in the amount of $50 per 1 thousand cubic meters. m. In this regard, the Ukrainian company announced that Gazprom is obliged to supply it with 17 billion cubic meters. m of gas per year at $50 per 1 thousand cubic meters. m. The press service of Gazprom explained in response that without a signed contract for the supply of gas in 2006, the addition referred to by Naftogaz of Ukraine is invalid. Let us note that in September 2004, Gazprom signed an agreement with Naftogaz to settle a debt in the amount of $1.7 billion. The document provided that the Ukrainian side would receive 5 billion cubic meters annually in 2005-2009. m of gas is less than the 23 billion supplied to pay for transit. This means that Gazprom has already delivered all the gas contracted for this year at a low price ($50 per 1 thousand cubic meters), and in December there were virtually no contractual obligations between the Russian concern and Naftogaz of Ukraine. A source at Gazprom confirmed that all gas contracted for this year has already been delivered to Ukraine. Apparently, this explains the fact that on Wednesday, President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, after which the press service of the Russian president reported that Mr. Putin “expressed satisfaction with Viktor Yushchenko’s stated readiness in principle to liberalize prices for supplied Russian gas and , respectively, tariffs for its transportation."
NATALIA GRIG

ON YOUR FIELD
"Nafta-Moscow" acquired a cable
OJSC Nafta-Moscow last week took control of a controlling stake in Moscow's largest cable operator, Mostelecom. Experts find Nafta-Moskva's investments promising: in their opinion, Nafta-Moskva can significantly increase the capitalization of its telecommunications assets by combining the cable networks of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The acquisition became possible thanks to the creation of a joint venture with the Moscow government - OJSC Mosteleset, in which the city owns 26% of the shares, OJSC Nafta-Moscow - 74%. The Moscow Property Department contributes 100% of Mostelecom OJSC to the authorized capital of the joint venture, and Nafta-Moscow - $180 million at the first stage; the total investment will be $270 million. As Vladimir Silkin, head of the Moscow property department, told Denga, Mostelecom networks were valued at 1.7 billion rubles. (about $60 million). At the same time, Mostelecom owns the largest cable network in Russia: its subscriber base has reached just over 3 million (80%) apartments in Moscow. But these networks, according to Mr. Silkin, are in very poor condition and require immediate investment: it is necessary to increase the capacity of the networks and transfer them to a digital data transmission system. At the same time, a mandatory condition for the work of Mosteleset is the preservation of the social package, which includes the main TV channels.
For Nafta-Moscow, this is not the first investment in the telecommunications industry: it already owns a large stake in the National Cable Networks company (the largest cable operator in St. Petersburg). According to experts, Nafta-Moskva's investments can significantly increase the capitalization of its telecom assets by combining the cable networks of Moscow and St. Petersburg. At the same time, experts believe that Nafta-Moscow is acquiring a controlling stake in Mosteleset for subsequent resale. “Nafta is a kind of transit point between city property and a strategic investor who will already do business on television networks,” says Arnold Prize holding general director Arnold Uvarov.
YULIA KULIKOVA

RED CARD
Confectioners are being taken away from Guta
As it became known last week, the Moscow prosecutor's office appealed to the city's arbitration court with a request to invalidate the agreement on the creation of the largest Russian confectionery holding OJSC United Confectioners.
The application was signed by the First Deputy Prosecutor of the City of Moscow Sergei Borisov. The defendants in the case are JSC Ernesta (representing the interests of the non-profit partnership Guta Group in the holding) and the Moscow Property Department, on whose behalf the agreement on the formation of the holding was signed. According to the prosecutor's office, the basis for its termination is the fact that the parties, when concluding the deal, pursued a goal other than “creating the largest confectionery holding in Eastern Europe.” As confirmation of this idea, Mr. Borisov provides data on the sale to third parties of enterprises transferred to United Confectioners by the Moscow government. We are talking, in particular, about OJSC TPK Mossahar, OJSC Ice-Fili and OJSC EKBK Zvezdny.
Thus, the Moscow prosecutor's office concludes that United Confectioners was established for the purpose of alienating on the open market blocks of shares of city-owned enterprises, bypassing the procedure established by privatization legislation. “In accordance with Article 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a sham transaction, that is, a transaction that was made with the aim of covering up another transaction, is void,” the Moscow Deputy Prosecutor said in a statement. The inspection was carried out on behalf of the Prosecutor General's Office.
Market participants believe that the inspection could have been initiated by one of Guta’s competitors, since both the holding itself and its individual enterprises were at different times the subject of commercial disputes. However, only two structures are named capable of such “initiatives”: Vneshtorgbank (VTB) and the development company PIK. “VTB has been eyeing these assets for a long time, and with the collapse of United Confectioners, it has a legal opportunity to take them,” said a source familiar with the situation. PIK has been fighting with Guta for more than a year for the Krasnopresnensky sugar refinery, located on the territory of one of the largest construction projects in Moscow, the Big City.
SVETLANA MENTYUKOVA

AWAY GAME
A third of Gazprombank goes to Germany
Last week, the board of directors of Russia's third largest bank, Gazprombank, proposed that shareholders sell a third of its shares to Dresdner Bank. If the deal goes through, it will be the largest sale of Russian bank shares to foreigners in history.
The fact that the sole shareholder of Gazprombank, Gazprom, plans to sell it became known in early autumn. Then the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, announced his readiness to part with a controlling stake in the bank. It was expected that this would happen within two to three years as part of the program for the sale of non-core assets. However, last week Gazprombank disseminated a message about its intention to place an additional issue of shares for 6.67 million shares. It should be bought by Dresdner Bank, after which it will become the owner of more than 30% of the shares of one of the largest banks.
According to estimates by UFG-Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Otsenka-DAKO, the cost of Gazprombank's additional share issue should be at least 23.2 billion rubles. Over the past two years, foreign banks have repeatedly tried to enter the capital of the largest Russian banks. Thus, back in 2003, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development offered Vneshtorgbank up to $300 million for a 20% stake. PNP Paribas wanted to buy 50% of Russian Standard Bank for $200 million. However, both attempts were unsuccessful; moreover, Russian Standard paid the French side a fine of $25 million for disrupting the deal.
The situation with Gazprombank in this regard looks much more promising, because the decision on the additional issue has already been approved by the bank’s board of directors. If Gazprombank shareholders approve the additional issue, and the German side does not violate the agreements, this transaction will become the largest purchase of shares of a Russian bank by foreigners in history.
EVGENIYA DMITRIEVA

Outpatient card
37.8°C
State Duma deputies voted to introduce a presumption of good faith of the taxpayer into the Tax Code. The Tax Code will state that “the taxpayer is considered innocent of committing a tax offense until his guilt is proven in the manner established by this code.” In addition, “finding a taxpayer guilty cannot be based on assumptions.” Russian business felt a little better - its temperature dropped by 0.1°C.

WORD TO PRINT
In the magazine "Money" #43 dated October 31, 2005, in the thematic pages "Mutual Investment Funds" an error was made for technical reasons. In fact, the assets held by the management company PioGlobal Asset Management amount to RUB 7,210.0 million. (change for 12 months - +18.2%; shares of individual, institutional and collective investors - 3.8, 19.5 and 75.7%, respectively). According to this indicator, PioGlobal EM ranks 13th among the 100 largest management companies in Russia. The editors apologize.

signatures
This is not the first time for Nafta-Moscow CEO Alexander Mosionzhik to invest in telecommunications
Alexey Miller quickly moved from words about the sale of Gazprombank to action

Magazine "Kommersant Money" No. 49 dated December 12, 2005, page 36

Authors:

Players – Money – Kommersant