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NYMEX Hardly to Own Anything in St. Petersburg Oil Exchange
More likely than not, NYMEX will be ultimately crossed out of the list of international oil exchange arrangers in St. Petersburg. Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov convened a meeting yesterday, which focused on creating there an oil exchange with Russia’s ownership of 100 percent. The sources say the government is deliberating on using the assets of Gazprombank or VTB for clearing and depository services. The final decision will be made at another meeting at Zubkov slated for next week.
Viktor Zubkov hosted a private meeting yesterday. One of the highlights was creating an oil exchange in St. Petersburg. In addition to the cabinet’s spokesmen, representatives of a few oil companies and Transneft attended the event. Deputy Economic Development Minister Kirill Androsov stood for his ministry. Spokesmen of the government declined to elaborate on results of that sitting but confirmed the fact of its holding.
According to anonymous sources, the essence of Androsov’s report was the February consultation of his ministry with Russia’s oil companies about creating an international oil exchange in St. Petersburg without any interest of non-residents.
During those talks, the market players insisted that the exchange would work without New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), which, in tandem with Expertica, set into motion the contract for Russia’s Rebco in the United States and was actively involved in working out the Russian project. The initial plans were to begin trial trading in St. Petersburg in June of 2008, during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. NYMEX, to which Economic Development Ministry once offered 10 percent in that exchange, declined to comment yesterday.
According to the sources, the stumbling block of the project is the demand of Transneft CEO Nikolay Tokarev to abandon clearing services of NYMEX. The NYMEX opponents claim the assets of a big Russia’s bank, for instance, VTB or Gazprombank, could be used for clearing and depository settlement. NYMEX and Expertica said $50 billion was needed to create the clearing of one’s own and suggested connecting a new exchange to existing facilities of NYMEX.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 05, 2008
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