Page 117 - RusRPTJun19

commissioning in 2022-2023 and will cost $20bn-$21bn. Previous reports suggested that a 30% stake was the subject of negotiations with Saudi Aramco, while companies from Japan and South Korean Kogas were also interested in acquiring a share in the plant. The head of the company and Russia's richest man according to Forbes Leonid Mikhelson previously claimed that Novatek will not sell more than 40% to Arctic LNG-2, which leaves 10% available for sale.
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Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman completed the merge of his oil assets with German Wintershall, creating the largest independent oil and gas company in Europe, the companies said on May 1. DEA (Deutsche Erdoel AG) is controlled by LetterOne or L1 investment vehicle of Fridman's Alfa Group. The joint output of Wintershall and DEA stood at 215mn barrels in 2018. German BASF gets 67% in the new company, with an option on another a 5.7% shares, while LetterOne 33% of the shares. The full integration of the companies is expected in within a year, with an IPO planned for the second half of 2020. Wintershall DEA will operated as a limited company with HQs in Kassel and Hamburg, managed by a board of six. The amount of the deal is undisclosed, but previous reports have put the merged company valuation at €10bn-20bn.
In 2018, the net profit of Surgutneftegaz grew 4.4 times to RUB850bn under IFRS accounts. That is the second best in Russia, leaving behind Rosneft , Lukoil and Sberbank and losing only to Gazprom, which earned RUB1.5 trillion. Most of the pre-tax profit (50.9%) of Surgutneftegaz was brought not by oil or its processing, but by currency revaluation, or some RUB529.4bn. For these revenues, Surgutneftegaz has left far behind all other oil and gas companies. Gazprom earned RUB222.2bn (11.4% of profit before tax) on exchange; Rosneft - RUB107bn (12.8%), Lukoil - RBU33.8bn (4.4%) and Tatneft - 7.9bn (2.8%).
Russia's privately owned oil major SurgutNefteGaz (Surgut) made more profit from its enormous cash pile than it did from producing oil in 2018, the company reported last week. The famously opaque company that is nevertheless close to the Kremlin, posted 4.4-fold net profit jump in 2018 to RUB850bn ($13bn) under IFRS. Surgut made one of the largest corporate profits in the country, second to only RUB1.5 trillion of Gazprom and beating other oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil. Notably, 51% of pre-tax profit was due to RUB529.4bn currency revaluation gain on Surgut's massive and notorious cash pile. Surgut's currency gain was more than that of all other oil major put together (RUB222bn of Gazprom, RUB bn of Rosneft, RUB33.8bn for Lukoil, RUB7.9bn for Tatneft). In 2018 the cash pile of the company grew by 32% to over RUB3 trillion, making the highest value since 2013. As reported by bne IntelliNews, the company's cash reserves are almost on par with the funds kept in the sovereign National Welfare Fund.
Troubles of Russia's largest independent vertically integrated refinery Antipinsky continue, as London court ruled to freeze €225mn worth of assets and oil products of the company over a claim of VTB Commodities Trading, a subsidiary of country's second-largest bank VTB Bank, Reuters reported citing court documents. As reported by bne IntelliNews, Russia's largest bank Sberbank is said to be preparing to bankrupt Antipinsky refinery,
117 RUSSIA Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com