Zoltav Resources Inc., a company partly owned by ARA Capital, a company controlled by Roman Abramovich's son Arkady, announced the purchase of the Bortovsky oil and gas field in the Saratov region, the license for which belongs to the Cypriot Royal Atlantic Energy. The field's reserves are estimated at 22.4 billion cubic meters of gas and 12.4 million barrels of oil and condensate (data as of May 1, 2012).

ARA Capital currently owns 38.6% of Zoltav, but by April 1 the stake in the oil company will increase to 45%.

The seller was one of Zoltav's owners, Bandbear Limited (it holds 32.5%). The deal is worth $180 million. According to the deal, the buyer will pay $77.5 million in cash, another $42.5 million by issuing 26.5 million common shares at $1.6 per share, and will raise the remaining $60 million from a bank.

Previously, the Bortovsky site belonged to Vostok Energy's subsidiary, Dial Alliance, and was then transferred to Royal Atlantic Energy. At the end of November, Interfax reported that Zoltav Resources Inc. had completed the deal to purchase Vostok Energy. During the pre-sale preparation, $140 million was asked for the company, taking into account its existing debt obligations of $160 million, but the final amount of the deal is unknown.

In March, Zoltav Resources Inc. bought its first asset, CenGeo, which held a license for the Koltogorskoye oil field in Western Siberia. The deal was worth $26 million, with an additional $20 million in investment commitments. The block's 1P reserves are estimated at 73.5 million barrels (about 10 million tons).

The price for the asset is low - $1.25 per barrel of oil equivalent, said IFD Kapital analyst Vitaly Kryukov. According to him, Bortovsky is a promising site with the potential to increase the resource base, it is located in a region with developed infrastructure and a high level of consumption.

Abramovich's son bought a deposit in the Saratov region