Petr Kolbin may become the new co-owner of Yamal LNG

As Kommersant has learned, Gazprombank has agreed to sell a blocking stake in Yamal LNG OJSC, which is developing one of the largest Yuzhno-Tambey gas condensate fields in Russia. The buyer will be Gennady Timchenko's long-time partner, co-owner of the Surgutex trader Petr Kolbin. If the transaction amount presented to the government is correct, the businessman will receive securities almost six times cheaper than what was offered to the controlling owner of Yamal LNG, NOVATEK.

Next week, at the next meeting of the government commission on foreign investment, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, 15 transactions should be considered, an official familiar with the list told Kommersant. This includes a deal for a blocking stake in Yamal LNG OJSC, says another Kommersant interlocutor familiar with the progress of the preparation of documents. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), which preliminarily reviews received applications, refused to discuss the list. The Prime Minister's press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the commission meeting is scheduled for next week. According to one of Kommersant's sources, Gazprombank is selling its stake in the project, and the buyer will be a Cypriot offshore controlled by Pyotr Kolbin.

OJSC Yamal LNG is the owner of the license for one of the largest gas condensate fields in Russia, the South Tambeyskoye gas condensate field with C1+C2 reserves of 1.256 trillion cubic meters. It is planned that a plant for the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be built on the basis of this field and the fields of Gazprom.

Until mid-2005, the license for Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye was owned by Tambeyneftegaz, controlled by Nikolai Bogachev. NOVATEK owned 25.1% of the shares. This share was bought by Gazprombank-invest, but almost simultaneously the license was reissued to the company Yamal LNG LLC, owned by Nikolai Bogachev (later reorganized into OJSC). Gazprombank challenged the transfer of the license in court, and a criminal case was initiated. As a result, in 2006, Nikolai Bogachev sold his share in the project to the co-owner of the Metalloinvest holding, Alisher Usmanov, from whom the assets were acquired by the Volga Resources fund (manages the assets of oil trader Gennady Timchenko) in early 2008.

In May 2009, Mr. Timchenko agreed to sell 51% of Yamal LNG to NOVATEK for $650 million. At that time, Mr. Timchenko already owned 18.2% of the shares of NOVATEK itself. NOVATEK also received a three-year option to purchase Gennady Timchenko’s remaining 23.9% stake in Yamal LNG for $450 million. This package can be used to attract a strategic partner to the project, NOVATEK head Leonid Mikhelson said in August. According to the list of affiliates of Yamal LNG, the remaining 25.1% of the company's shares belong to the Cypriot Sirita Ventures, controlled by Gazprombank. The bank did not comment on the deal.

Petr Kolbin is a long-time partner of Gennady Timchenko. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Mr. Kolbin owns 49% of St. Petersburg LLC Surgutex. This company exports Surgutneftegaz petroleum products from the Kirishi Oil Refinery. Gennady Timchenko, who controls slightly less than half of the oil trader Gunvor (a third of Russian oil exports), in the late 80s worked at Kirishineftekhimexport, the export and trading division of the Kirishi Oil Refinery. In 1991, he moved to the trading company Urals Finland, part of which was then transformed into IPP OY Finland, where from 1994 to 2001 Mr. Timchenko was managing director. According to Novaya Gazeta, in 2004 Pyotr Kolbin was a member of the administrative council of the Geneva representative office of IPP. The current general director of Surgutex, Vladimir Isaev, is one of the co-founders of Transoil-CIS, where Gennady Timchenko heads the board of directors. Surgutex could not contact Mr. Kolbin yesterday. In addition to this company, the businessman, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, controls Raznoexport LLC, which at the end of 2005 won two tenders for the supply of equipment and spare parts for Gazprom.

The deal requires the approval of a government commission, since Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye is a subsoil plot of federal significance, and Mr. Kolbin is acquiring a stake in the project not directly, but through a Cypriot offshore.

According to one of Kommersant's sources, in the documents for the meeting of the government commission, the parties name the transaction amount at $78.5 million. Experts note that the declared price of the transaction is several times lower than the market price. According to calculations by Vitaly Kryukov from IFD Kapital, based on the deposit’s reserves, the blocking stake should cost at least $325 million. Finexpertiza CEO Agvan Mikaelyan agrees that the price is “inadequate.” He notes that the real value may be much higher, but is formed within the framework of broader agreements, for example, taking into account previous transactions or debts.

Denis Rebrov, Olga Mordyushenko

Gennady Timchenko will share gas with a partner