‘Change has never been so fast.’
Russneft
Russneft is Russian oil refining company one of the largest producer of oil products in the country. Company creation occurred with financial support large Swiss companies Glencore.
The ex-president of oil company “Slavneft” Michael Gutseriev and its partners were founders and initial proprietors of company “Russneft”. The company provides petrol, diesel, lubricants, gasoline, distillates, black oils, bitumens, and viscous residual components. It offers its products through a network of petrol stations, petroleum storage depots, and gasoline filling stations. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Moscow, the Russian Federation with plants in the Russian Federation and the CIS countries. Backed by loans from Swiss-based Glencore, Gutseriyev built Russneft into mid-sized oil major, a firm producing 300,000 b/d of oil and poised for further growth. The feel-good Russneft story, however, quickly turned into a nightmare as Gutseriyev was accused of tax evasion and “illegal activities” by Russian authorities, the firm itself was hit with huge back-tax claims, and Gutseriyev fled into exile in July 2007, citing unbearable pressure from authorities. The reasons is why he started to think about selling the company is that he had a conflict with big persons from Russian government and did not sell them his company for the small money .They advised him $1 billion but he told them that he will never sell for the such money. And one more moment which helped him to understand that he should sell Russneft is the problems because of President of Ingushetia. Because Gutseriyev was supporting president opposition and did everything against him. But Russian government supported this president against Gutserieyv and he did not have chances to do something.
Just before fleeing Russia, however, Gutseriyev reportedly reached a deal with Basic Element, the investment vehicle of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, to sell it control of Russneft. The deal was never finalized, however, and Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) has yet to approve the deal nearly two years later. Thus, Russneft’s ownership status has been in limbo since July 2007. Now, with reports that Deripaska last month borrowed some US$2.8 billion from state-run Sberbank last month, using Russneft shares as collateral, an end to this ownership limbo may be coming into sight.
Citing sources close to Russneft shareholders, Platts reported that Deripaska had already borrowed US$2.8 billion from Sberbank in 2007, using one of his existing businesses as collateral, in order to acquire Russneft. The new loan, using 100% of Russneft shares as collateral, was reportedly needed to repay the first credit, this time making the oil company itself the borrower. Deripaska and his investments have been hit hard with the financial crisis, and the oligarch has already been trying to restructure Russneft’s debts, which reportedly now exceed US$5 billion, in order to retain control of the oil firm. Since Russneft does not have the cash to pay off the new loan, the options before Deripaska are basically to sell the oil firm or watch it go bankrupt.
Neither Gazprom nor Rosneft has publicly expressed an interest in buying Russneft, but then it would be hard to turn away from the chance to acquire the mid-sized oil major in what amounts to a fire sale. Deripaska surely is loathe to off-load ownership of Russneft, but the new loan using the oil firm’s shares as collateral give him few good alternatives at this point. With his business empire crumbling, Deripaska may well opt to try to salvage other key assets, in particular aluminum giant UC RUSAL, rather than try to maintain his grip on an oil firm on which Basic Element does not have a firm hold to begin with.
As such, the reluctant sale of Russneft is the better option for Basic Element rather than allowing the firm to go bankrupt, with Sberbank taking over ownership of Russneft and then selling it on to Gazprom Neft or Rosneft. One of those two state-run firms is likely to end up with Russneft in its portfolio in any case, so the only real question is whether the seller will be Sberbank or Basic Element. Glencore, which has sought to buy a 25% stake in Russneft (as the Swiss firm is owed some US$1.3 billion by the Russian oil firm from previous loans), is keen to have a say in any transfer of control of Russneft or its assets, which could complicate the end-game in Russneft’s ownership saga. First, however, the FAS must approve Basic Element’s acquisition of Russneft�just in time for the oil firm to change hands again. In the above situation, Deripaska played the part of the “White Knight”, offering the disgraced businessman an attractive alternative to being one of the “bad boys” who coveted Russneft’s assets. Some analysts are not ruling out the possibility that Bazel is only the technical buyer of Russneft, and in time it may resell the company to one of the government oil corporations such as Rosneft, which would most likely be the first in line to buy. However Rosneft would not be overly interested in Russneft’s resources, since they would present too much of a burden to the rest of Rosneft’s projects.
It is considered that there were two aspirants for Russneft. They are Rosneft where the chair is mighty deputy chief of the President’s Administartion Igor Sechin and the Head of Bazel, Deripaska. Deripaska bought Russneft with the Putin’s permission and under the promise to resell this asset to the state.
Well, he bought it. And he promised. So he will resell. What was the reason of arresting the company’s stock?
The reason is that if Medvedev or Ivanov became the President, Deripaska could change his mind and not sell Russneft to a company controlled by Sechin. If Deripaska didn’t sell Russneft after the President’s election then influence by Sechin would decrease. And again, failing to pull Russnegt from Deripaska before the election would mean Sechin’s weight coming down.
In other words, hunting for Russneft is not a question of business. It’s a question of political weight by near-president’s clans, the weight measured by billions of dollars.
On 31 of July, 2007 the Lefortovsky district court of Moscow has seized 100% of actions of Russneft. According to experts, it can tighten the transaction on sale of company Basel or seriously lower the price of an active.
On November, 9th, 2007 the arbitration appeal court has left the decision of arbitration court of the Moscow which has confirmed legality of adding Russneft of taxes and sanctions for second half of 2004 and 2005 for a total sum nearby 17 billon rbl. After that decision tax departments without the change can begin procedure of collecting of a shortage.
For new key figures was so difficult to normalize everything again and come back to their leading place.
In 2007 the company has kept the positions in first ten oil companies of Russia. In the conditions of development of new deposits and work on old petrocrafts of “RussNefti” it was possible to stabilize oil recovery volume in volume more than 14 million tons a year. Thus daily average extraction has made 39 thousand tons. In many respects it became possible at the expense of the thought over strategy of working out of highly productive new chinks and application of new effective technologies of oil extracting in Western Siberia and active carrying out of a complex of geology-technical actions on mature deposits of the company in the Volga region and Udmurtiya.
Russneft Company is facing the problem of the present extent of oil production, the resource base of the Company allows in prospect to increase this number by 18-19 mln tons per year. At the same time the Company plans to provide hydrocarbons recovery to the level of annual oil production, to carry out a program on geologic exploration for the purpose of updating of the structure of reserves as part of license area, to actively introduce modern methods ofenhanced oil recovery. Special attention in 2008 “RussNeft” is going to pay to drilling projects. In particular, the Company is going to realize some projects of horizontal drilling that will essentially improve indicators of oil field performance. Besides, this year the Company will consider the ways of carrying-out different programs, aimed to increase the level of recycling of associated gas in the oil fields of the Company. The companyannually assigns funds for financial support to its former employees, arranges honoring of war and labor front veterans, and assigns finance for curing and emergency needs on the basis of applications frompensioners. The company renders support to the social committee of Saratov Energy and Fuel Complex for maintenance of the museum “Neftegasenergetica” in Victory Park on Sokolova Gora and arranging joint events.
The charity funds are sent for sudsitance allowance and arranging events to Veteran Councils of the region. In particular, during recent year’s war and labor front veterans receive invitation cards for charity concerts which take place in the conservator and are sponsored by the companies “RussNeft” and “Saratovneftegas’.
These change made a problems only for people who tried to destroy Gutserievs Company and do not let him to take the highest point in this industry. They still try to catch him and put in gale but he run away from Russia and live with his wife .They do not have any problems .As you see in higher points now Russneft trying to repeat their triumph and enter the world’s financial and stoke markets. I am sure that they will do it may be could do it better without their old director.