Several companies, including independent gas trader Trans Nafta and Renaissance Group have been barred from bidding for YUKOS assets.
Photo: Alexey Kudenko
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2 Major YUKOS Subsidiaries Up for Sale
Two large firms are the last to be sold in an auction selling off assets of bankrupt oil giant YUKOS. LUKOIL, Naft Moskva and TNK-BP are expected to join Rosneft and Gazprom-linked Unitex to bid for a Samara company and a gas station chain. Industry experts say, however, that the winner of all auctions was chosen before the auctions, and some firms may be thrown out of competition before the bidding starts.
Monday is the last day to submit applications to bid for the last two assets of YUKOS. Production facilities in Samara will be put on sale with the ask price of 154 billion rubles, and 500 gas stations in Central Russia will go under the hammer at the price of 7.7 billion rubles.
State-owned Rosneft has bought all key assets of what was one Russia’s largest oil company. But competition for the remaining subsidiaries may be stiffer. A source close to YUKOS says that three companies, including Rosneft have already filed their applications to bid for the Samara lot. One of the three is Promregion Holding which is reputed to be linked with LUKOIL. Russia’s top oil producer announced back in April that it would not take part in YUKOS’s sell-off.
Elsewhere, TNK-BP confirmed plans to bid for YUKOS’s gasoline station chain. Nafta Moskva would not comment on reports.
Analysts note that the ask price for the gas station chain could have been twice as high. Some experts note that more bidders at YUKOS auctions are invited to make the sell-off look legitimate, while the winner is predetermined. “Actual talks take place before the deal, and the auction is just its final stage,” says Nadezhda Kazakova, an analyst with MDM Bank. Valery Nesterov, an analyst at Troika Dialog, says some companies may be thrown of competition even before the auction. Earlier, several companies, including independent gas trader Trans Nafta and Renaissance Group were barred from bidding for YUKOS assets.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 07, 2007
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