Russia 100723 Basic Political Developments

Tycoon Vekselberg plans training aircraft plant in Russia - paper

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100723/159918038.html
10:29 23/07/2010

Russian Renova Group, owned by tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, may build a plant for the production of training aircraft, based on the technology of the Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus, Vedomosti daily reported on Friday.

The project will only go ahead if Renova manages to conclude delivery contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, a source close to the group told the paper.

If launched, the plant will produce aircraft based on the Pilatus PC-9 M and PC-21 models. The PC-9 M is a single engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft with a strong dorsal fin. The PC-21 model is a single-turboprop, low wing swept monoplane advanced trainer with a stepped tandem cockpit.

Renova is currently estimating possible demand for these aircraft. Construction of the plant will be efficient if it delivers 50 planes a year.

The training aircraft would be sold to the Russia's Defense Ministry and potential customers abroad, although negotiations with foreign partners have not yet begun.

An official from the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the project is being discussed, although Russian Air Forces representative Vladimir Drik told Vedemosti he had not heard about the project.

The project may face problems with the certification of its plants in Russia and with tough Swiss regulations on the export of military products, experts told the paper.

Vekselberg chose Pilatus for the project because 13.97% of its shares belong to the Swiss Oerlikon, which is controlled by Renova. However, the manufacturer's role in the project has yet to be defined.

MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti)

X5 Retail applies to FAS for Kopeika acquisition

http://en.rian.ru/business/20100723/159918457.html
10:55 23/07/2010

MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - X5 Retail, Russia's largest supermarket chain by revenue, has applied to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) to acquire retailer Kopeika and its subsidiaries, the FAS said on Friday.

"The application will be considered within a legal period," the service said in a statement.

Russia's competition law says the application should be considered within 30 days from the day it was received, while the review duration can be extended by a maximum of two months.

X5 Retail Group Chief Executive Lev Khasis said the application was 'a technicality', necessary for probable merger negotiations.

In October 2009, the FAS approved X5's application to acquire the Paterson supermarket chain within less than a month, and in December 2009, X5 closed a $189.5 million merger deal with Paterson owners, brothers Alexei and Konstantin Mauergauz.

X5 has also paid off the retailer's $85 million net debt. X5 began to rebrand the acquired stores after the merger, transforming 53 retailers into Perekryostok stores and 22 into Pyatyorochka discounters.

Kopeika's chief financial officer Alexander Tarasov said that the company knew X5 had applied to the FAS, and that the management was searching for an opportunity to raise the company's shareholder value to its maximum level.

In early summer Kopeika, which is owned by Uralsib bank head Nikolai Tsvetkov, valued itself at 50 billion rubles ahead of a possible Initial Public Offering in autumn.

Analysts think X5 will considerably increase its share of the Moscow market after acquiring Kopeika.

Earlier media reports suggested that the U.S. supermarket chain Wal-Mart, which has no stores in Russia, was thinking of purchasing Kopeika.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Russian govt to hold tender for Trebs, Titov oil deposits this year

http://en.rian.ru/business/20100723/159918222.html

10:38 23/07/2010

The Russian government will hold a tender for the Trebs and Titov oil deposits in the north of the country in the fourth quarter of 2010, the government's website said on Thursday.

"The Federal Agency for Subsoil Use must approve the agenda of the tender committee and requirements for the content of the tender documents, send out notices on the tender before August 1, 2010, ... and conduct the tender in the fourth quarter," the statement said.

The Trebs and Titov oil deposits are among the most promising in the Timan-Pechora oil province, with reserves estimated at 78.9 million tons and 63.4 million tons of oil respectively to C1 category.

The government earlier approved tender terms for the Trebs and Titov oil deposits.

A source in a company interested in participation in the tender said that the government had proposed including a clause on the obligatory refining of oil from the deposits at local refineries in tender terms.

Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev has said that an initial payment at the tender would amount to $500 million.

Rosneft, LUKOIL, Gazprom Neft, Bashneft and Zarubezhneft are interested in obtaining licenses for the deposits.

MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti)

Putin approved an open competition for oil resources Trebs and Titov

http://www.rosbalt.ru/2010/07/23/756077.html

GOOGLE TRANSLATION

Rosbalt, 23/07/2010, 8:51 News


MOSCOW, July 23. Russian government approves an open competition for the subsoil of federal significance, including the oil fields of. Roman Trebs and them. Anatoly Titov in the Nenets Autonomous District in the 4 th quarter of 2010. The corresponding order was signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Rosnedra requested to approve the August 1, 2010 Rules of the competition committee, the requirements for the content of tender documentation and notification of the contest, part of the competition committee and arrange in 4 th quarter of the contest.
Participants should submit the tender documentation in two phases. At the first available application with the documents in a sealed envelope, the document confirming payment of fee for participation in the competition, and signed by the applicant The deposit for participation in the contest.
At the second stage, the participants provide the technical and economic indicators in a sealed envelope, the document confirming payment of the deposit for participation in the competition, suggestions about the size of a single payment for the use of mineral resources in a sealed envelope.
The structure of the competition committee composed of at least 11 people, including representatives of the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Economic, Energy, Rosnedra, other federal bodies of executive power, the administration of the NAO. The decision of the competition committee adopted an open vote.
The winner is recognized bidder who meets the conditions of competition and presenting the best technical and economic indicators that meet basic criteria established by RF legislation. Techno-economic indicators proposed by the Bidder, the recognized winner, to be included in the license agreement.
Recoverable reserves of oil exploration areas in gosbalanse on 1 January 2009 are 89 million 727 thousand tons - of C1, 50 million 332 thousand tons - for C2 and 59 million 289 thousand tons - for C3. Inferred resources of oil - 70 million tons by category D1l.

Rosneft Offers 600,000 Tons of ESPO Oil for September, October

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aqwM9i_i8wNw

By Christian Schmollinger

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Rosneft Oil Co. offered to sell 600,000 metric tons of East Siberian Pacific Ocean pipeline oil, or ESPO crude, for loading in September and October, said two traders who received the notice.

Details of the offer are as follows:

-----------------------------------------------------------

Crude: East Siberian Pacific Ocean pipeline oil

Quantity: 100,000 tons, or 730,000 barrels, x 6 cargoes

Loading: Sept. 7-10, Sept. 9-12, Sept. 11-14, Sept. 20-23,

Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, Oct. 3-6

Port: Kozmino Bay Terminal, Russia’s Far East

Bids close: July 27

-----------------------------------------------------------

To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at [e-mail].

Last Updated: July 22, 2010 20:55 EDT
Transoil RAS net profit for 2009 up by 20pct

http://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/Transoil_RAS_net_profit_for_2009_up_by_20pct/156417.html
Friday, 23 Jul 2010

Interfax reported that OOO Transoil net profit according to Russian accounting standards in 2009 went up by 20% to RUB 5.4 billion.

The company sales revenue in 2009 reached RUB 50.7 billion which is a 19% increase from a year previous.

Transoil short term debt at the end of December 2009 came to RUB 3.7 billion. The company long term debt stood at RUB 5.2 billion.

Transoil transfer oil and petroleum products with a fleet of 17,000 tanker cars and 37 locomotives. The company works in partnership with Russia leading oil companies including Transneft, Surgutneftegas and Rosneft.

Gazprom

July 23, 2010 10:38

Gazprom gas production off last year's pace

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=178932

MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - Gazprom's current ongoing gas extraction has for the first time fallen below the level of last year - the worst in the history of Russia's gas sector.

According to the Fuel and Energy Dispatch Center (TsDU TEK), Gazprom had on July 21 extracted 1.059 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, significantly under the 1.067 bcm it had produced on the same date last year.

The situation was otherwise just one day prior - 1.062 bcm extracted on July 20, 2010, versus 1.035 bcm on July 20, 2009.

The current 1.059 bcm production level is for now the lowest daily extraction since the start of this year, although it is substantially higher than last year's low of 891.7 million m3.

Since this year began, Gazprom has also significantly increased last year's levels.

However, the extraction curves of this and last year are mixed. Whereas in 2009 Gazprom hit the year's low on June 21 and then rose, this year has up to now seen a continued drop in extraction.

Cf

Gazprom, CNPC in Talks

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/gazprom-cnpc-in-talks/410911.html
23 July 2010

Gazprom and China National Petroleum discussed how to finance the western, or Altai, supply route across Siberia to the Asian nation, the company said Thursday.

Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev and CNPC vice president Wang Dongjin also discussed the “main commercial and technical aspects” of gas delivery at a meeting in Beijing, the company said.

(Bloomberg)

Gazprom has ousted fully Iran from Turkish gas market

http://abc.az/eng/news_22_07_2010_46713.html

Baku, Fineko / abc.az. Turkey has become the only European country that is not scared by complete gas dependence on Gazprom.

The Russian gas monopoly informs that after an explosion at a pipeline via which Iranian gas is delivered to Turkey, Botas applied to Gazprom with a request to double Russian gas supplies via Blue Stream route to remove the consequences of the accident. As a result, the supply via Trans Black Sea gas pipeline has been increased from 14 million up to 22 million cu m a day. Botas’s full application is 32 million cu m.

“Botas requested previously an increase in supplies in excess of the maximum daily commitments. Having technical capabilities Gazprom always agreed to meet the requests of the Turkish side, delivering larger volumes of natural gas,” Gazprom said.

It is not reported of the causes of the explosion on the gas pipeline from Iran which supplies up to 23 million cu m a day: before to investigate the incident one must first to extinguish the fire on the gas pipeline.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan, which also supplies gas to Turkey via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, does not report of any increase of its supplies.

JULY 21, 2010, 7:48 A.M. ET

AIR SHOW: Sukhoi To Supply 10 Superjets To Gazprom Unit

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100721-706603.html

By Jonathan Buck

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

FARNBOROUGH, England (Dow Jones)--Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. on Wednesday announced an agreement of intent to supply 10 Sukhoi Superjet 100/95 LR aircraft to a unit of Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), in a deal worth $323 million at list prices.

Deliveries to Gazpromavia are due to begin in 2012, Sukhoi said in a statement at the Farnborough International Air Show.

The Moscow-based aircraft manufacturer, formed in 2000, is majority owned by Sukhoi Holding. A minority stake is owned by Italy's Alenia Aeronautica, a unit of defense giant Finmeccanica SpA (FNC.MI).

-By Jonathan Buck, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

Gazprom Keeps Projects in Rotenberg's Pipeline

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/gazprom-keeps-projects-in-rotenbergs-pipeline/410878.html
23 July 2010

By Yelena Mazneva / Vedomosti

In its first full year of operations, Arkady Rotenberg's contracting business managed to become the industry's second-largest player by revenue, thanks in large part to its contracts with state-run Gazprom, Vedomosti has learned.

Stroigazmontazh, which first appeared two years ago, had revenue of nearly 89 billion rubles ($2.9 billion) last year under Russian accounting standards, according to data from the State Statistics Service. That made it the single biggest company in the "construction" section by data from the statistics service that are available in Interfax's SPARK database.

The company's consolidated revenue last year was 100.3 billion rubles, a source close to Stroigazmontazh told Vedomosti.

On its web site, the builder only lists projects from Gazprom, including the Olympics gas pipeline Dzhubga-Lazarevskoye-Sochi, the Russian section of Nord Stream, and the project of the decade — the Sakhalin-Khabarovsky-Vladivostok pipeline, the first phase of which is alone worth about 210 billion rubles.

A spokesperson for Stroigazmontazh declined to comment on how much of the company's revenue was from Gazprom, as did spokespeople for the gas company. Gazprom is Stroigazmontazh's "main customer," the builder's spokesperson said, declining to comment on whether it was the only one.

But the market's leader is still Stroigazkonsalting, which had 2009 consolidated revenue of 138 billion rubles, according to a company presentation that Vedomosti has seen. The company also lists Gazprom as its largest client, representing about 65 percent of its turnover, but Stroigazkonsalting also has other projects, such as a contract to reconstruct the highway between Moscow and Minsk in a consortium with Lider and Gazprombank.

The Stroigazmontazh spokesperson declined to say whether the company was ready to surpass its main competitor this year. "We don't have a goal to try to surpass anyone, but we are developing exponentially and it's already clear that the company has broken into the industry leaders."

Stroigazmontazh's owner is Arkady Rotenberg, who was a childhood judo partner of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The company got its start when firms controlled by Rotenberg bought five of Gazprom's construction subsidiaries in March 2008 for 8.3 billion rubles, essentially at their starting prices. By May of that year, Stroigazmontazh won its first Gazprom tender. It then won four major orders, two of which — the Sochi and Sakhalin pipelines — were awarded without a tender.

The main owner of competitor Stroigazkonsalting is Jordan-born businessman Ziyad Manasir, who first visited the Soviet Union as an exchange student 26 years ago. His junior partners are managers at the company, although until last year he had other co-owners.

In the spring of 2009, Manasir told Forbes that Pyotr Polyanichko received a 20 percent stake in his business in 1995. Polyanichko is the son of the late Viktor Polyanichko, a former deputy prime minister and close acquaintance of Gazprom's first chief, Viktor Chernomyrdin.

Another partner was Olga Grigoryeva, the daughter of the late Alexander Grigoryev, a friend of Putin's and former deputy chief of the Federal Security Service, Forbes reported.

"The guarantee of our success is skillful, quality and quick work as well as resources — people and equipment," the Stroigazmontazh spokesperson said. "We even go after the projects that others turn down."

For example, the undersea Dzhubga-Lazarevskoye-Sochi pipeline will be built in about a year, although similar projects typically take two years, the spokesperson said.

Manasir gave roughly the same explanation for his success in an earlier interview with Vedomosti. "I always fulfill the terms of contracts. No one will support you if a project fails."

He could not be reached for comment Wednesday, and a spokesperson for Stroigazkonsalting declined to comment further.

Several years ago, the largest oil and gas contractor was Stroitransgaz, which was Gazprom's favorite builder under chief executive Rem Vyakhirev. Then Gazprom sold its shares in Stroitransgaz and reduced its orders. The firm's earnings began to fall, and in 2007 it was sold to oil trader Gennady Timchenko. Its major clients now include state-run Rosneft and Transneft.

Vedomosti was unable to speak with Stroitransgaz chief Sergei Makarov on Wednesday about the company's forecasts and plans. Under a program formed by its previous president, Alexander Ryazanov, Stroitransgaz planned to double its revenue by 2013 and generate an operating profit this year.

Contractors by revenue

Company	2009		2008
	Revenue	Profit / (Loss)	Revenue	Profit / (Loss)
1. Stroigazkonsalting*	138.12	N/A	138.97	N/A
2. Stroigazmontazh	88.98	1.04	6.91	0.26
3. Stroitransgaz	41.45	(6.74)	34.38	(6.22)
4. Globalstroi-Inzhiniring	31.11	5.35	38.47	1.55
5. Mezhregiontruboprovodstroi	21.42	2.24	19.85	2.60

Figures are in billions of rubles
*Unaudited results; others are to Russian accounting standards.
Source: Interfax’s SPARK, Vedomosti