| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Rosneft Purchases Baikal
December 23, State owned Rosneft purchased BaikalFinansGroup, the winner of Sunday’s Yuganskneftegaz auction, Echo of Moscow radio station reports. Rosneft purchased 100 percent shares from Baikal's previous owners, whose names are not published.
Rosneft representative Aleksandr Stepanenko told RBC that Yugansk purchase was in Rosneft’s plans for expansion, intended to turn the company into a national energy corporation by developing its productive capacity in all regions of Russia including Siberia, the Far East, and the north and the south of Russia’s European territory. However, the company spokesman had difficulty answering whether the purchase of Baikal would affect the plans of its merger with Gazprom.
Stepanenko said that “Baikal owners offered Rosneft to buy the Yugansk assets they had acquired at the auction.”
Baikal purchased 76.70 percent shares of Yugansk last Sunday. The event became a sensation and puzzled the analysts as to who owned the company and how they would dispose of YUKOS’ main asset.
Meanwhile, YUKOS representatives in Houston court announced that they demanded $20 billion compensations from Yugansk purchaser after the end of sale procedures. YUKOS representative in Houston Richard Mintz said that the company would take actions against any organization, involved in Yugansk purchase. The next session of Houston court is to be held on January 6.
Let us remind you, that the U.S. bankruptcy court in Houston issued an order to block the Yugansk sale. However, Russia ignored the order, since according to law such rulings could be made only by national courts. The Houston court order implied freezing assets of banks who offered credit for purchase of Yugansk. There is no information as to whether Baikal had any assets in the United States.
|
|
|
