Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Russian President Vladimir Putin (behind Mr. Miller).
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Gazprom Took the Oil Upon Itself
// Merger
On Saturday, Gazprom chairman of the board Aleksey Miller, talking to journalists in Yamburg, explained the way Rosneft projects were financed. He said that Gazpromneft will not only be deprived of independence in the process of drawing money, but will not be able to manage the oil it produced – the right to market the oil will go to Gazexport, Gazprom subsidiary.
At the end of the first half of 2004, Rosneft had a debt of $2.25 billion, 15 percent of which is short-term debt. The debt will grow by the end of 2004 to $2.5 billion and will continue to grow in the course of the next three years: to $2.8 billion in 2005, $3 billion in 2006, and $3.4 billion in 2007 and 2008. At the end of 2009, the debt must be decreased to $3 billion.
Talking to the journalists, Miller said that the gas holding will optimize the structure of Rosneft's debt portfolio. In the last three years, Gazprom has lowered the average interest rate on credits from 8.4 in 2001 to 7 percent in 2003. This is much lower than the rate at which Rosneft gets its credits, 7-13 percent on long-term credits and 6.5 – 23 percent on short-term. Gazprom is planning to refinance the oil company's credits with its own, relatively cheap, loans. Therefore, the volume of Gazprom’s loans will be increased. “If we have a united program of loans, it will be different,” Miller said.
Metropol analyst Evgeny Satskov said 80 percent of company's portfolio was in long term credits and, therefore, Gazprom will be able to refinance only 15-20 percent of its credits. Aton analyst Steven Dashevsky says that capitalization of Gazprom ($60 billion) will let it increase its accounts payable (about $14 billion) by another $5-7 billion without damaging the company’s balance. That is why Rosneft debts will not decrease Gazprom’s stability or lower its credit ratings.
According to press secretary of Gazprom head Sergey Kupriyanov, restructuring of Rosneft assets will lead to the fact that next year Gazprom will finance the development of the Shtokman gas condensate field and Prirazlomny oil field, where Rosneft has shares as well. So far, Rosneft has gathered enough funds for their development in proportion to its part in the project. Currently the group of Vankor fields is financed by Vankorneft, affiliated with Rosneft. In exchange for money, Gazprom will receive rights to manage the oil produced. Kupriyanov emphasized that the right to manage oil exports (produced in all Rosneft subdivisions) will pass to Gazexport.
Yesterday, the Rosneft press-service said that plans for financial loans for the next year have not been considered by the board of directors, and refused to comment on statements about the transfer of trader functions to Gazexport.
Natalya Grib
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 05, 2004
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