Now also in Russia

Co-owner of RosUkrEnergo bought a gas field

Before the sensational details about the real beneficiaries of the Swiss gas trader RosUkrEnergo had died down, the newly revealed co-owner bought a solid gas asset in Russia. Yesterday it was announced that the structures of Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash, who controls 90% of the Ukrainian half in RUE, acquired 74.87% of Astrakhan Oil and Gas Company OJSC. The blocking stake still belongs to the regional administration. ANGK holds a license to develop the right bank part of the Astrakhan gas condensate field with approved reserves of 220 billion cubic meters of gas and 20 million tons of oil. Previously, the French Total was interested in this asset, but did not find understanding from the regional authorities and Gazprom.

The deal was announced at a meeting between Mr. Firtash and the governor of the Astrakhan region, Alexander Zhilkin. The meeting, as Interfax reports, was also attended by the former head of Astrakhangazprom LLC Vitaly Zakharov, appointed general director of ANGK. “The region includes a major investor whose tasks include the development and development of the Pravoberezhnye gas condensate field and the construction of a processing plant with advanced processing,” said the head of the region.

The regional administration noted that the company also plans to build a gas processing plant for the deep processing of hydrocarbons. The processing volume will be up to 6 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The estimated investment in construction is estimated at more than $1.2 billion.

A Vremya Novostey source close to RosUkrEnergo said that this is Mr. Firtash’s personal project. The businessman apparently counts on the support of his partner in the trading business, Gazprom. The stake he had previously purchased belonged to Gosinkor, which was part of the Guta group of companies. And after the bankruptcy of the bank, the shares were transferred to the balance sheet of Vneshtorgbank, which, apparently, acted as the seller of the non-core asset.

Alexey GRIVACHS