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Stanford Withdraws Money from Tatneft
Stanford University’s President John Hennessy announced the Trustees Board decision to abandon investments in a number of companies, including Tatneft, to protest against their activities in Sudan, Reuters reported yesterday. In Tatneft, the say they don’t have any business in Sudan and call Hennessy’s statement political provocation.
US Stanford University (graded AAA by S&P) is the largest loan subscriber in the world. Overall investments of its Stanford Management Co. have reached $12.2 billion. The worth of investments made in Tatneft is cloaked in secrecy.
In his statement, John Hennessy urged investment managers to dispose of the stocks of Tatneft, Swiss-Sweden ABB and China’s PetroChina and Sinopec that are operating in Sudan’s Darfur, as genocide there could be to a certain extent attributed to the connivance of the above four companies, that is in its turn, in direct contradiction with the principles of Stanford University.
Although not disclosing any data on Sudan activities, Tatneft claims it had been in talks with Sudan political elite about subsoil exploration since 2000, but the negotiations brought no fruit. “It looks more like an act of political provocation,” a source with the company told Kommersant. Tatneft press service made no comments.
Actually, the trading and economical partnership negotiations started by Tatarstan’s PM Rustam Minnikhanov five years ago, gained momentum past year. For instance, KamAZ automobile works hosted Sudan delegation that June. Minnikhanov met Sudan’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Chol Deng Alak in August. Apart from KamAZ trucks, the parties focused on the chances of Kazan helicopter works to bid at the tender for military machinery delivery. Chol Deng Alak last visited Tatarstan’s capital Kazan past December. At that time, Sudan party declined to comment to Kommersant on Tatneft business in the country.
It seems that no one of the canvassed projects could have neared even the start. Spokesmen of Tatarstan’s Trade and Foreign Economic Cooperation Ministry told Kommersant yesterday Tatarstan won’t launch its representation in Sudan’s capital Khartoum as it was intended a year ago.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 11, 2005
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