To whom were Rosneft shares sold and what do foreign media think about it? Expert: the sale of Rosneft shares will improve the investment climate in Russia Rosneft shares were sold to themselves

The sale is called by a number of Russian publications, allegedly following the Financial Times, almost “a personal triumph for Putin.” In fact, the Kremlin simply managed to find a weak link in the civilized community of developed countries. And the money received from the sale of one of the best assets will simply be eaten up in a matter of months.

The sale of Rosneft took place

The president personally announced that the sale of Rosneft had taken place. A package of 19.5%, previously owned by the state, was sold cheaper by 5% of the real market value, that is, with a deliberate discount.

In total, we managed to receive 10.5 billion rubles, which at today’s exchange rate is approximately 666 billion rubles. The surprising coincidence of the number involuntarily reminds us who exactly is behind this transaction.

For reference: Russia currently accounts for more than 3 trillion rubles. If you divide one by the other, then the money should be enough for just a couple of months. And if you compare the revenue with the total budget expenses for the year, then even that is significantly less.

History of the sale of Rosneft

Meanwhile, the deal came as a complete surprise to most analysts. All normal people rightly believed that no one would mess with Putin, “popularly elected,” and even more so with Sechin, who is unknown where he came from.

The sale of Rosneft to any adequate American or European company could hardly take place due to sanctions. Therefore, it was expected that the buyer would be either the budget itself, which passed the money through one of the banks with state participation, or some dubious fund from some other totalitarian country, for example, Kazakhstan or, at best, China.

The whole question of success was only a successful attempt to find the weak link in the world community. And that’s exactly what we did in the end.

Sale of Rosneft: who is the buyer

The buyers of Rosneft were Glencore and Qatar Investment Authority on a parity basis, which created a special consortium - one of the favorite words of the early nineties and privatization of that time.

Qatar Investment Authority is an organization from Qatar, something like our National Wealth Fund, created in 2005 by the local “emir”. This is a government structure whose task is to diversify the country’s economy in one way or another. Unlike Russia, Qatar understands that everything cannot be completely dependent on the export of hydrocarbons and the exploitation of its exhaustible resources.

The only question is to what extent such a purchase can reduce Qatar’s risks associated with fluctuations in stock prices for raw materials. Most likely, no way, therefore, whether we like it or not, another assumption arises: the acquisition of Rosneft is connected with the desire to somehow influence a competitor. For example, in the future, somehow reduce its own production or redistribute the market in Europe.

Second participant in the sale of Rosneft

The second participant in the deal is even more interesting. Glencore is a Swiss company with an interesting history and an equally interesting reputation. In fact, it was created by the American Marc Rich. By and large, the secret of success is extremely simple: the company made a fortune trading Iranian oil - bypassing global sanctions.

To be completely clear, in today's time it is the same as buying raw materials from the terrorist organization ISIS. And besides, Glencore was also seen in transactions with Cuba, despite the embargo, and other totalitarian regimes.

It is not surprising that a criminal case was brought against the organizers of the “business” in the United States in 1983, traditionally for tax evasion. And from that moment on, the financial tycoons at the helm of Glencore were forced to hide in Europe, namely in Switzerland, which was not particularly disdainful of Nazi money taken from murdered Jews, and even more so in this case.

In 1993, the co-founders persuaded a fugitive from American justice to leave his post and sell his stake. Since then, Glencore has been fighting to restore its reputation.

Of course, it is not so difficult to find something in common in the transactions with Fidel Castro, who killed thousands of his fellow citizens for political reasons and sent them to participate in the civil war in Angola, where, by the way, Sechin also visited, and today, when all The world has turned against Putin because of the war in Ukraine and other countries on the way.

In any case, there is nothing left to do but state that for some companies there is no smell of money. Vladimir Putin made a deal with one of the enterprises of this kind.

Sale of Rosneft: consequences

Only the tip of the iceberg is known: the price for which the sale of Rosneft took place. Moreover, even in this figure there are disagreements; different sources call either 10.5 or 10.2 billion dollars.

Russia has become poorer - thanks to Rosneft. At the same time, one must understand that the money received from the privatization of this asset will either be stolen or consumed in the very near future.

The most important thing: today we can say with complete confidence that the sale of Rosneft is unlikely to be a signal to other investors, because our economy still remains one of the most unattractive.

Banks providing depository services are commercial organizations whose purpose is to make a profit. Each bank independently determines the source of its profit and, depending on the situation in the depository services market, its own costs and the bank’s development strategy, makes a decision on its tariff policy.

Following the results of the annual General Meeting of Shareholders of PJSC NK Rosneft held on June 30, 2007, the Company worked with Russian banks that carry out depository storage of shares of PJSC NK Rosneft, and the registrar of the Company, as well as the specified banks and the registrar of PJSC NK Rosneft” with the Federal Service for Financial Markets in order to reduce tariffs for depository and registrar services for the Company’s shareholders.

During the work carried out, the following results were achieved:

• From October 1, 2007, Sberbank of Russia PJSC changed the tariffs for depository services for individuals. In accordance with these changes, fees for accounting and storage of equity securities (including shares of PJSC NK Rosneft) are not charged to individual depositors.
• Since July 13, 2007, RRDB Bank (JSC) has reduced tariffs for the bank's depository services five times, and since October 1, 2007, has abolished fees for accounting and storage of shares for individual shareholders.
• The registrar of PJSC NK Rosneft is LLC Reestr-RN in order to reduce the costs of the Company's shareholders who wish to transfer shares for storage from bank depositories to the register of shareholders of PJSC NK Rosneft, and also vice versa - from the register of shareholders of the Company to bank depositories , from August 27, 2007, reduced the tariffs for the transfer of shares (without transfer of ownership) for shareholders of PJSC NK Rosneft owning blocks of shares with a market value of up to 200,000 rubles, tenfold. The indicated blocks of shares of PJSC NK Rosneft are owned by more than 90 thousand shareholders who purchased the Company’s shares during the IPO.
• From February 5, 2008, the registrar of PJSC NK Rosneft, LLC Reestr-RN, abolished the fee for opening personal accounts and making changes to the information of personal accounts of registered shareholders of PJSC NK Rosneft - individuals.

In addition, PJSC Bank URALSIB and Bank GPB (JSC) serve shareholders of PJSC NK Rosneft on preferential terms from the beginning of the Company’s IPO: fees for depository services for accounting and storage of shares of PJSC NK Rosneft in the depositories of these banks is not charged to shareholders of the Company.

The registrar of PJSC NK Rosneft - LLC "Reestr-RN" does not charge the Company's shareholders a fee for recording and storing shares in the register of shareholders of PJSC NK "Rosneft", since the payment for the services of LLC "Reestr-RN" for maintaining the register of shareholders of the Company is made PJSC NK Rosneft under an agreement to maintain a register of owners of registered securities.

Currently, the services of banks and the registrar of PJSC NK Rosneft remain paid for the transfer of shares of the Company from nominal holding to the register of shareholders of the Company and vice versa, which is associated with the need for compensation by banks and the registrar for the costs associated with supporting this operation.

To transfer shares for safekeeping from the bank depository to the register of shareholders, you must perform the following actions:

• Open a personal account in the register of shareholders of PJSC NK Rosneft by contacting a specialized registrar that maintains the register of shareholders of PJSC NK Rosneft.
• Issue at the bank where you have opened a securities account for accounting (storing) shares, an order to transfer the shares for storage to the register of shareholders.
• Pay for the services of the bank and registrar for the transfer of shares.

Shares of PJSC NK Rosneft can be purchased from their owner. The purchase can be made on the basis of a purchase and sale agreement drawn up in accordance with current legislation, with subsequent re-registration of ownership rights at the location of the account of the owner of the shares (at the depository / with the registrar).

Currently, the shares of PJSC NK Rosneft are in public circulation, that is, they are sold at trading on stock exchanges. To buy (sell) shares on the stock exchange, you can contact a company that provides brokerage services (for example, a bank).

At a meeting in the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin congratulated the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, on the completion of the deal to privatize a large stake in the leading domestic oil and gas company - 19.5 percent.

“The deal was made during an upward trend in oil prices, and accordingly, this is reflected in the value of the company itself,” noted Vladimir Putin. “In this sense, the timing is very good, and the total volume of the transaction is significant - 10.5 billion euros together with the Bashneft company,” which you acquired just recently is $17.5 billion."

“Even in the first part, this is the largest privatization deal, the largest sale and acquisition in the oil and gas sector in the world over the past 2016,” the president assessed.

The head of state expects that the arrival of new investors (a consortium of the Qatari sovereign fund and the largest international trading company Glencore) in the management bodies will improve corporate procedures, the transparency of the company, and will lead to an increase in capitalization. “At the same time, the controlling stake of the company itself remains in the hands of the Russian state - more than 50 percent,” he emphasized.

“In general, this is a very good result,” Putin assessed. “And of course, the question arises when the money will reach the budget,” he added.

Commercial negotiations were held with more than 30 companies, funds, professional investors, financial institutions in Europe, America, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region, Sechin said. “I am reporting to you about the completion of these negotiations, as well as the completion of consideration of the proposals made, the signed complex privatization deal including Bashneft... This is more than 1 trillion rubles, which will go to the budget, including for 19.5 percent of Rosneft.” “10.5 billion euros,” he noted.

The consortium participants have equal shares - 50 percent each. The sale price is the maximum possible with a minimum discount, which is offered to investors at five percent from the current stock exchange quotes on December 6. This is a strategic deal. It provides, in particular, for concluding a long-term supply contract with Glencore, coordinating market positions as a result of this work, and creating a special production enterprise together with this consortium both in Russia and for international projects.

“In total, from the privatization of 49 percent of Rosneft, the total volume of transactions, a whole series of transactions that were carried out, is 30, almost 34 billion dollars, which is almost four times higher than all privatizations in the oil and gas sector of the Russian Federation,” the speaker cited the figures.

“According to our calculations, despite the sales, the cost of the package, which belongs to the state, will increase by about 80 billion rubles,” Sechin said and thanked the president and the government for their support.

“A significant amount of foreign currency will now enter the financial market, and the money should go to the budget in ruble equivalent, in rubles,” Putin noted. “Therefore, it is necessary to develop a scheme that would not negatively affect the market and would not cause any surges.” on the foreign exchange market. We know that the Rosneftegaz company, which ultimately must transfer money to the budget, has significant resources in rubles. Firstly, these funds need to be used, and secondly, developed together with the ministry. Finance and the Central Bank are making gradual movements towards conversion... And I ask you to coordinate all these issues with the government, government leadership, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank."

“We are in contact with the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance. We will definitely report to the Prime Minister and develop a joint scheme that guarantees minimal impact on the market,” Sechin assured.

The President also proposed inviting new participants and shareholders of Rosneft to Russia. “We will accept them at a high government level,” he said.

The deal to sell a stake in Rosneft is a commercial one, there is no politics in it. It showed the attractiveness of Russian assets for investors both within the country and abroad, press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov explained to reporters yesterday. The president did not participate in the negotiations on the deal, but, of course, received reports. Funds from the sale of the stake should be transferred to the budget on December 15.

Infographics: RG/ Mikhail Shipov / Anton Perepletchikov / Alexandra Vozdvizhenskaya

The message about the privatization of part of the state stake in Rosneft reached the market after the closing of the main trading session of the Moscow Exchange, so the Russian stock market reacted to this event with growth only yesterday morning. The MICEX index reached a new historical high - 2207 points; the leaders of growth were ordinary shares of Rosneft (at the moment one cost 380.95 rubles). The company's capitalization has reached its highest level in its history - more than four trillion rubles.

It became the most valuable public company in the country on April 11 of this year (3.468 trillion), overtaking Gazprom (3.45 trillion), but after that, once for a few hours on November 28, the concern lost the palm to Sberbank (at that time 3.557 trillion). At the current level of capitalization, the gap from its closest “rivals” was almost 400 billion rubles.

The Wall Street Journal wrote, citing its experts, that the privatization deal shows that there are many buyers, and Russia does not need to sell assets cheaper to China or India. The Financial Times also stated that the deal was a success: “It was assumed that Western companies would refuse to participate in the purchase of shares in the Russian oil producer due to sanctions, although they do not prohibit this.” “The most positive fact is Russia’s movement towards the destruction of the sanctions and isolation regimes,” supported Bloomberg analysts.

The news is relatively good for the ruble: today the official dollar exchange rate is 63.39, and its further fluctuations may be minimized, as the privatization deal will “cut” expectations for the traditional weakening of the ruble by the end of the year. But this will be possible if funds from Rosneftegaz are also involved in the currency conversion transaction.

Receipts to the federal budget from the sale of state assets at the end of this year will amount to 1.1 trillion rubles, of which 703.5 billion will be provided by the privatization of 19.5 percent of Rosneft, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said yesterday. He assured that there would be no pressure on the ruble exchange rate due to currency conversion under the deal, and the funds themselves would be transferred to the treasury in the period from December 15 to 20.

Infographics "RG" / Leonid Kuleshov / Alexandra Vozdvizhenskaya

Last week, Igor Ivanovich Sechin again surprised everyone: on Thursday, like a bolt from the blue: it was announced that 19.5% of Rosneft shares had been sold - and not to Rosneft itself, as many market participants assumed, but to a sovereign fund Qatar and the world's largest trader Glencore.

Everything related to Rosneft has recently been more reminiscent of lightning-fast special operations than Western mergers & aquisitions. In the West, Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” is popular among investment bankers, and sometimes it seems that Rosneft takes the thesis “business is war” literally.

Once! - Yevtushenkov was put under house arrest; once! - and suddenly they announced the sale of Bashneft to Rosneft, once! — and detained the head of the Ministry of Economy, Ulyukaev.

Actually, it is now clear why Ulyukaev was detained. After such a loss of a fighter, the economic bloc of the government hardly dared to ask any questions about the deal.

True, instead of the economic bloc of the Russian government, it seems that they will be asked by the United States: White House press secretary Josh Ernst said that the American Treasury will study the deal. This statement apparently had such an effect on Glencore that it immediately issued a press release in which it clarified: the agreement with Rosneft has not yet been signed, but is at the “last stage of negotiations.” In addition, Glencore clarified that out of the total deal - $10.2 billion - it is investing only $300 million of its own money (equivalent to 0.54% of the shares) in exchange for a five-year agreement that gives Glencore access to 220 thousand barrels of oil daily.

First, Bashneft was taken away from Yevtushenkov. Then it was suddenly sold to Rosneft. Rosneft’s victory was explained by the need to replenish the budget, and Rosneft offered the most: 330 billion rubles.

This was a strange explanation, because Rosneft is a state-owned company. And paying such a large amount affects the financial condition of any company. In particular, dividends paid to the state, not to mention taxes, are reduced by this amount. That is, if money from a state-owned company migrated to the state budget, this does not mean that the amount has changed.

In parallel with Bashneft, the state was going to sell 19.5% of Rosneft. These deals went together. The main reason for this sale was the desire to replenish the budget.

This reason seemed strange in a country that had sunk $15 billion into the ground for the construction of South Stream even before the agreement on it was signed. In addition, Rosneft is under sanctions, and this greatly affects its value. It was completely incomprehensible why the Kremlin so wanted to sell the state-owned 19.5% of Rosneft into private hands given such an unfavorable situation. And this week everything became clear.

On Wednesday, Rosneft placed bonds worth 600 billion rubles on the market. - ​that is, for most of the amount that had to be paid for 19.5%. Exactly the next day after this placement, Igor Sechin came to Putin and announced that he had two buyers for 19.5% of Rosneft - Glencore and Qatar.

What both of these globally respected organizations have in common is that they are opaque.

Simply put, they - ​within the framework of a legally flawless scheme and, of course, in full compliance with financial politeness - ​can act as fronters in exchange for some services: for example, in exchange for a contract for oil supplies.

All we know, in summary, comes down to this.

That for some reason the Kremlin was in a hurry to sell Bashneft to Ro-Neft, and then sell 19.5% of Ros-Neft to private hands.

That the put forward motivation is to get $15 billion into the budget, given the insignificant size of this amount compared to at least the spending on the Olympics ($50 billion) and the scale of budget theft, does not seem logical.

That exactly on the eve of the announcement of the sale, Rosneft borrowed 600 billion rubles. That the size of this loan is enormous for the Russian market and that the loan was carried out by private subscription and was placed in half an hour.

That Glencore said it was investing just $300 million in the deal.

That the rest of the money is provided by the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, a long-time partner of Gazprombank, a collector of Russian icons and generally a great friend of the Kremlin, whom you can rely on in all sorts of sensitive issues.

That 300 million dollars plus 600 billion rubles. exactly correspond to the amount that must be paid for 19.5% of Rosneft shares.

That we are waging a proxy war with Qatar (and Saudi Arabia) in Syria, because the real sponsors of the Syrian opposition are not the USA and Europe, but Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

There are a thousand and one ways in the world to pay for shares of a state company with the money of the state company itself, but in such a way that the shares go to a private person. For example: a company places bonds, invests the money received in a certain fund, and this fund is then fronted by an influential but opaque international corporation.

So the question is very simple: to whom are 19.5% of Rosneft shares actually being sold in front of everyone immediately after Rosneft placed a loan of 600 billion rubles on the market?

On December 7, the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the completion of the transaction to privatize 19.5% of the shares of the largest Russian oil company for 10.5 billion euros. The buyers and strategic investors were a consortium of Glencore and the Qatari sovereign wealth fund.

Swiss company Glencore and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund have become the first international investors to take a stake in Russia's largest oil producer since sanctions hit the country's economy. Let us add that Glencore shares are growing in Hong Kong against the backdrop of a deal to purchase Rosneft shares. In the first hour of morning trading, they rose in price by more than 3%.

It is unknown what privileges investors who buy Rosneft at the market price will receive. For Glencore, this could be benefits for oil purchases; for Qatar, it could be Russia’s participation in OPEC production cuts.

Pravda.Ru asked leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund Igor Yushkov to comment on the completed transaction for the sale of Rosneft shares

— Does this mean that an agreement has been reached with Qatar? Now is it more economically interesting for Qatar to develop Rosneft and gas supplies through Russia than to build its own pipeline? Or will Russia become a participant in the Qatar-SA-Syria-Turkey-EC gas pipeline?

“I think the story here is mixed. This can simply be perceived as some kind of rapprochement with Russia, although I think that the deal with Qatar’s entry into the capital of Rosneft does not at all show that Qatar has improved political relations with Russia.

We remember how our ambassador was beaten in Doha in an attempt to take away his diplomatic mail, and on the Syrian conflict we have diametrically opposed views: in fact, Qatar finances the opposition that Russia is fighting against.

Another question is, why did Qatar need to join the capital of Rosneft, since Russia is its competitor in global markets? I think that we should not rule out the possibility that Qatar is the temporary owner of this stake, and it will not stay there in the long term.

I do not rule out that within a year Qatar may be replaced by a Russian company, and this is the castling scheme in which Qatar enters there as a temporary player only to receive a certain profit.

As for gas, joining Rosneft does not improve Qatar’s relations with Gazprom, and the gas component, I think, has nothing to do with it. On the contrary, Rosneft competes with Gazprom, and Rosneft, together with Novatek, are trying to take away the monopoly right to export gas from Gazprom.

Therefore, here Rosneft does not need Qatar at all as a partner in the European gas market. Rosneft itself wants to enter the European gas market, displacing Gazprom, so why do they need an extra competitor in Qatar. And the project of laying a gas pipeline from Qatar, I think, now has less and less chance, as the military conflict in Syria and Iraq drags on for many years.