“Prana” was not found in the Seychelles

Sale of Yukos assets may take three months

The mysterious Prana LLC , which won the auction for the sale of the Moscow offices of YUKOS in a tough struggle with Rosneft, offering a fabulous sum of 100.09 billion rubles for them, received a warning from the FAS. On May 29, the company must submit to YUKOS bankruptcy trustee Eduard Rebgun permission from antimonopoly officials to purchase these assets. But yesterday, the FAS unexpectedly announced that it had extended the period for consideration of Prana’s application right up to August 2 of this year. Officials explain their decision by the fact that they have still not been able to establish either the owners or the location of the company: “The request for information sent to the address of Prana LLC indicated in the petitions was not delivered and was returned to the FAS due to the fact that the addressee was not found for this address,” the department’s materials say.

At the headquarters of YUKOS bankruptcy manager Eduard Rebgun they assure that no one will wait that long. “According to the law, in order to receive an act of transfer of property, the auction winner must, within 14 days, provide the bankruptcy trustee with not only data on payment for the lot, but also written permission from the FAS for this transaction,” recalls Mr. Rebgun’s press secretary Nikolai Lashkevich. - So if the company cannot do this by the specified deadline, then the committee of creditors will act in the same way as in the case of Promregion Holding (which the FAS refused permission to purchase the southern assets of YUKOS. - Ed .), that is the lot at the last price will be offered to another auction participant, and if he refuses, the assets will be put up for auction again.” Mr. Lashkevich added that today or at least tomorrow the committee of creditors will consider the situation that has arisen. True, so far, the press secretary assures, the bankruptcy trustee has not received any notification from the antimonopoly agency. Besides Prana, only Rosneft’s “granddaughter” Neft-Aktiv laid claim to YUKOS real estate.

Until now, the market is at a loss as to who exactly is behind Prana, registered in the Seychelles, capable of paying such a sum for real estate in Moscow. The head of the FAS, Igor Artemyev, said at a press conference last week that he would refuse Prana permission if the company’s beneficiaries were not revealed. It is unclear why the FAS decided to extend the period for considering this company’s application. After all, two weeks ago it refused permission to Promregion Holding on the grounds that it did not see its beneficiaries beyond the LUKOIL-Garant pension fund.

However, this solution to the issue is very convenient, first of all, for YUKOS bankruptcy manager Eduard Rebgun. Indeed, if the owners of Prana are unable to resolve the issue with the FAS, this lot may “hang”, and together with the lot with southern assets. After all, as Mr. Lashkevich said, despite the creditors’ decision to assign the lot to other auction participants at the winner’s price, the bankruptcy trustee has not yet approached anyone with such an offer. “We are not limited by any deadlines,” he told Vremya Novostey. Meanwhile, on August 1, the bankruptcy trustee’s term of office ends, and the presence of disputed assets will allow Mr. Rebgun to seek their extension through the court.

Rosneft is interested in this. After all, by August 1, Mr. Rebgun must divide the bankruptcy estate between creditors, one of the main ones on the list of which is the state oil company. She has already selected all the loan funds raised for the purchase of YUKOS assets. And having received the money owed to it from YUKOS, Rosneft will be able to go with it to auctions for southern assets and real estate.

Anna GORSHKOVA