Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov sits alone in the empty hall of the Federation Council November 14, 2001.
Photo: Dmitry Dukhanin
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Bashkir Capital Declares Oil Truce
Bashkir Arbitration proceeded yesterday to the suits of the Property Ministry of Bashkortostan to get back into the state ownership majority stakes in Ufa refineries and petrochemical enterprises owned by Bashkir Capital. But the court was adjoined for three days, as Bashkir Capital declared it may reach an amicable agreement with the ministry. Kommersant learnt that such turn of events is attributed to the talks between Bashkir President Murtaza Rakhimov and his son Ural, who controls Bashkir Capital.
It was early March when Bashkir President Murtaza Rakhimov voiced the intention to transfer to the government's Bashkir Fuel Company the former state-run stakes in the core enterprises of Bashkir fuel and energy complex currently owned by Ural Rakhimov’s Bashkir Capital. The deals whereby Bashkir Fuel Co. sold Bashneft (63.72 percent) and Bashkirenergo (32.07 percent) were invalidated in the mid.-May with the award coming into force June 16.
Yesterday, the court was to cancel the sale of the former state-run stakes in four Ufa refineries, including Novoil (85.4 percent), Ufimsky NPZ (74.88 percent), Ufaneftekhim (60.63 percent) and Ufaorgsintez (71.76 percent) and of their sales division Bashkirnefteproduct (57.37 percent). At the very start of the hearing, Bashkir Capital’s spokesman announced “the parties have agreed to conclude an amicable agreement and are canvassing actual provisions of its sealing”.
The news came as an apparent surprise for the spokesmen of the Property Ministry standing for it in the court. Prosecutors’ observer Gulnara Bikbulatova was equally at a loss. She doubted the chances of the agreement, the more so that it was said to cover not only stocks of the refineries and Bashkirnefteproduct but also the already available award concerning Bashneft and Bashkirenergo.
Nevertheless, the court decided to shelve the hearing till June 9. Sources with Bashkir government say Murtaza and Ural Rakhimovs met past Thursday. The talks continued yesterday. Kommersant found out that negotiations between representatives of the fuel and energy bosses of Bashkortostan and the Property Ministry of the republic resulted in seven legally acceptable drafts of amicable agreement, though “only emotional undertanding has been attained to-date,” one of the sources specified.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 07, 2005
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