The Rotenberg brothers won a major tender to supply pipes to Gazprom. During the tender for the purchase of large-diameter pipes (LDP), the results of which were summed up on April 19, the gas monopoly purchased about 780 thousand tons of pipes, paying more than 64.3 billion rubles (about $2.18 billion) for them.

The main share (487.5 thousand tons) came from the products of the trader “Northern European Pipe Project” (SETP, controlled by brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg ). The Rotenberg company's offer amounted to 42.862 billion rubles, 0.4% (180 million rubles) below the starting price.

In addition to SETP, three more companies took part in the tender: Pipe Innovative Technologies, Stroypromdetal and ZAO TD TMK. Based on the results of the tender, Pipe Innovative Technologies sold 242.1 thousand tons of LDP to Gazprom for 18.3 billion rubles, Stroypromdetal - 48.3 thousand tons for 3.23 billion rubles.

According to FG BCS analyst Oleg Petropavlovsky, the tender prices differ significantly from the market ones. “Pipe manufacturers cited $1.99 thousand per ton as the average price for LDP in the first quarter,” says the expert, “while SETP sold pipes to Gazprom at $2.98 per ton - a premium to the market of about 50%, then as usual, the trader markup is around 5%.” At the same time, Petropavlovsky notes, “Pipe Innovative Technologies” sold its goods for $2.56 thousand per ton, and “Stroypromdetal” - for $2.27 thousand.

Gazprom considers it incorrect to compare tender prices with the market average. “At Gazprom, the purchase price for each type of large-diameter pipe is formed on the basis of specific technical requirements,” the company explains. “In particular, the company plans to use pipes with a diameter of 1420 mm for a working pressure of 11.8 megapascals with external anti-corrosion and internal smooth coatings. Therefore, it is incorrect to compare prices for individual types of LDP purchased by Gazprom with the average price that includes all types of LDP on the Russian market.”

On the websites of pipe traders, the range of prices for LDP is quite wide - from $750 to $2.7 thousand per ton.

“There is nothing surprising in the fact that the Rotenberg brothers received the largest lot,” comments a source in the oil and gas industry. “SETP has long been the main supplier of pipes for Gazprom (the trader provides about 70% of all the monopoly’s needs for pipes), and this is due to the Rotenbergs’ personal lobby.”

The head of East European Gas Analysis, Mikhail Korchemkin , recalls that it is Arkady Rotenberg’s company Stroygazmontazh that is the contractor of the Dzhugba-Lazarevskoye-Sochi gas pipeline. “This is the most expensive gas pipeline in the world: with a capacity of 3.8 billion cubic meters per year, the cost of 1 km of pipe exceeds 5 million euros,” says Korchemkin. – For comparison, the cost of 1 km of the first branch of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, with a capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters, is 3.4 million euros. The reason is that Nord Stream is an international project, and there are no prying eyes in the Sochi gas pipeline.”

Gazprom's money went down the drain