Mr. Cache

Igor Sechin does not require apology - only money

Rosneft begins a new judicial epic. The company filed claims against the participants of the Sakhalin-1 consortium totaling 89 billion rubles. According to RBC, the areas in which the state -owned company and the international conglomerate produces oil are bordered by each other. And for geological reasons, part of the oil from the deposit of the northern tip of Chauvo (Rosneft) physically flows into the deposits of Odopta and Arkutun Daga, which are developed by Exson Neftegaz Limited, Sodeco (Japan) and Ongc (India). Rosneft hired expert organizations and counted losses in three years, having received the same amount of 89 billion rubles.

It can be assumed that foreign investors are in shock. Firstly, even against the backdrop of the sanctions warfare, there were no applications for Wendett against foreign investors, and the Indians have nothing to do with it. Secondly, both Exxonmobil and ONGC are large partners of the Russian state-owned company, their cooperation has been developing for a long time and far beyond the borders of Sakhalin. Thirdly, the lawsuit itself is unusual from the point of view of both Russian and world practice. Well, Last but not Least, the figure of the plaintiff, which has no less importance for the outcome of the process than the legal side of the issue.

We just recall that earlier Rosneft won even a more complicated claim for AFK System. Sechin's company appealed to the court, claiming that under the control of the “system” “Bashneft”, later seized into state property and privatized by Rosneft, in the process of reorganization lost 136 billion rubles that could be paid as dividends. And these hypothetical dividends were the lost benefit of Rosneft, a kind of Schrödinger cat, who was not in a bag at the time of privatization. The lawsuit was long, but the parties entered into a settlement agreement, according to which the “system” paid 100 billion rubles.

This, of course, is a funny coincidence, but even to General Feoktistov the court returned two million dollars, which he borrowed from a certain businessman to conduct an operational experiment, as a result of which the former Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukaev was detained, and then sentenced to prolonged deprivation.

There were, however, annoying misfires. When Rosneft demanded 3 billion rubles from the RBC holding, the court first reduced the amount of claims to 390 thousand, and then even to zero. But formally it was still a victory, because the requirement to delete information, which Rosneft was unhappy, had to be fulfilled.

In Russia there are two people who come out of the winners from all conflicts. And if Ramzan Kadyrov is usually limited to the fact that he takes an apology, then Igor Sechin is primarily interested in money.

And right, because he is an effective state manager.

And exactly at this place a key question arises. And what will happen if Igor Sechin and his company find himself in a conflict with the state itself? The wording is not absurd at all. Rosneft is still nothing more than a company with state participation. So, she pays taxes. And he wants to pay less - this is the normal desire of any economic agent.

And here, on the occasion, there was no money in the country. And the Ministry of Finance conceived a tax maneuver in the oil and gas field. We will not describe in detail its parameters and mechanism, focus on the expected results. The first version involved additional budget revenues, but at the same time, according to Sechin, it would deprive the oil workers of the opportunity to make investments that are so necessary for the development of new deposits. Then the head of Rosneft proposed his tax maneuver. There was already several in shock, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Siluanov was, because the budget not only did not acquire, but even lost a very tangible amount of 500 billion rubles.

And how did it all end? A compromise option in which the budget loss (and therefore the profit of oil workers and Rosneft is primarily) will amount to 200 billion rubles.

The Ministry of Finance easily escaped!