Rosneft's purchase of shares in Bashneft. Rosneft completed the acquisition of the state stake in Bashneft

On November 14, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Alexey Ulyukaev, was detained while receiving a bribe. According to investigators, he received $2 million for a positive assessment of the deal to privatize Bashneft by Rosneft. According to an RBC source familiar with the investigation, Ulyukaev had been in the works of law enforcement agencies for at least a year, that is, during the period of approval of the privatization of the company. How the preparations for the privatization of Bashneft went - in the RBC review

Photo: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

August 2005. After AFK Sistema became the owner of a blocking stake in Bashneft, its leaders emphasized that the investments were exclusively portfolio in nature and the shares could be sold in a few years. In particular, Sistema vice-president Levan Vasadze indicated that the company would like to receive 75% of Bashkir Capital, which also controlled Bashneft, and in one and a half to two years the shares could be sold. Rosneft and Gazprom were then named as one of the most likely contenders for Bashkir oil assets, and Rosneft confirmed its interest in them.

Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov:“We are looking at the Bashkir refineries, they are even better than the assets of YUKOS” (Kommersant, July 2006).

ANK Bashneft develops fields in the Volga-Ural oil and gas province, the Timan-Pechora basin and Western Siberia, with a total of 194 fields (175 in operation). From 2009 to 2014, the company increased oil production by 40%. Three oil refineries located in Bashkiria are involved in oil refining. The company also includes a network of gas stations (582 own and 220 partner stations at the end of 2014).

July 2013.​Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who headed the board of directors of AFK Sistema, said that Bashneft could indeed be sold to a strategic partner or its shares could be placed on the market.

October 2014. The Moscow Arbitration Court ruled to reclaim 81.67% of the shares of Bashneft as state property, and in December AFK Sistema transferred 73.9% of the shares of JSC ANK Bashneft to the Russian Federation represented by the Federal Property Management Agency. The authorities are talking about re-privatizing Bashneft. Energy Minister Novak called this decision “logical” at the APEC summit.

July 2015. Rosneft reported that it had received an offer to purchase a 50.1% stake in Bashneft, although the law on the privatization of state and municipal property prohibits companies with a state share of 25% or more from participating in privatization. Thus, Gazprom, Rosneft and RDIF are subject to the ban on participation in privatization.

February 2016. The head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Alexey Ulyukaev, named three companies that have the greatest chance of being privatized this year: Rosneft, Bashneft and ALROSA. At that time, the state owned 75.1% of Bashneft - 50% from the federal government and another 25.1% from the government of Bashkiria. On February 1, during a meeting with members of the government, President Vladimir Putin named the key conditions for large-scale privatization. He demanded that potential buyers be in Russian jurisdiction and not borrow money from state banks, and that transactions be “as transparent as possible for both their participants and the public.”

March 2016. The owner of the Independent Oil and Gas Company (NOC), Eduard Khudainatov, spoke about his desire to take part in the privatization of Bashneft. According to the Vedomosti newspaper, he addressed President Vladimir Putin with a letter in which he announced NNK’s readiness to participate in the privatization of Bashneft.

April 2016. The head and main owner of LUKOIL, Vagit Alekperov, said that the company is interested in purchasing the federal government’s share in Bashneft. to the fact that the company expressed its readiness to buy out all 75.1% of Bashneft shares at a significant premium to the market.

May 2016. President Vladimir Putin on May 17 removed Bashneft from the list of strategic enterprises and strategic joint-stock companies, making the privatization of the state stake possible.

July 2016. Rosneft received from VTB Capital, which is the agent for the sale of the state stake in Bashneft, an offer to purchase a 50.1% stake in the company. At the same time, back in February 2016, Rosneft press secretary Mikhail Leontyev claimed that it was not interested in this asset. “How can one state-owned company buy another?” — . Gazeta.Ru reported that among those who received offers from VTB Capital were also Total, Sinopec, Shell, BP, Statoil, Eni, ONGC, Oil India, the Arab fund Mubadala, as well as the Chinese funds Silk Road Fund and CIC.

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich:“It was decided not to allow state-controlled companies to participate in privatization, and we are talking about both direct and indirect control” (Vedomosti, July 28).

July 25, 2016."VTB Capital" that four companies expressed interest in purchasing the asset: Rosneft, LUKOIL, NNK and Antipinsky Oil Refinery. The Kommersant newspaper reported that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Tatneft and the Energy Fund also submitted applications.

“In my opinion, Rosneft is an inappropriate buyer for such an asset” (RIA Novosti).

August 2016. Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov that the state intends to receive $3 billion from the privatization of Bashneft. Thus, the preliminary estimate announced by the government turned out to be almost 26% lower than the market value.

September 30, 2016. First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said that the government has resumed the privatization of Bashneft, and Rosneft will be allowed to participate in the deal. At the same time, Rosneft continued to show interest in privatizing the federal government’s stake.

Head of the Ministry of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev:“From the point of view of the privatization law 174, there is a textual provision stating that if a transaction is made in the interests of developing the stock market, technology, and so on, it is not subject to the requirement that a company that has 25% or more [state participation] is not allowed. Formally, based on this provision, and also on the fact that formally, directly, it [Rosneft] is not state-owned - but through a “layer”, that is, Rosneftegaz, - formally it is admitted [to the privatization of Bashneft] "(RIA Novosti).

October 10, 2016. Head of Government Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the sale of 50.0755% of the shares of Bashneft to Rosneft. The transaction amount, according to him, will be 329.69 billion rubles. After this, LUKOIL stated that the amount at which the state-owned stake in Bashneft was valued turned out to be too high for the company.

October 12, 2016. Rosneft, without submitting a petition to the FAS, entered into a purchase and sale agreement for Bashneft and paid 329.7 billion rubles. The entire amount went to the Russian budget. “We needed to quickly transfer money to the budget, we did it,” Rosneft press secretary Mikhail Leontyev.

On November 14, the Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev was detained. The arrest occurred when he was given a bribe of $2 million for a positive assessment of the deal to privatize Bashneft by Rosneft. The case was initiated under the article “receiving a bribe on an especially large scale” (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code). - in the RBC material.

How the owner of Bashneft changed

In August 2005, when AFK Sistema became the owner of a blocking stake in Bashneft, its leaders emphasized that the investments were solely of a portfolio nature and the shares could be sold in a few years. In particular, Sistema vice-president Levan Vasadze indicated that the company would like to receive 75% of Bashkir Capital, which also controlled Bashneft, and after 1.5-2 years the shares could be sold. Rosneft and Gazprom were then called one of the most likely contenders for Bashkir oil assets, and the company itself confirmed their interest in them. In July 2006, Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov said: “We are looking at the Bashkir refineries, they are even better than the assets of YUKOS.”

In June 2013, the Vedomosti newspaper, citing its own sources, reported the interest of Rosneft (then in the process of integration with TNK-BP) in purchasing Bashneft. The head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, called the issue of buying Bashneft “interesting”, but said that it was not being discussed.

In July 2013, the main shareholder of AFK Sistema, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, told Bloomberg that Bashneft could indeed be sold to a strategic partner or its shares could be placed on the market.

In August 2013, TASS reported that Sistema plans to sell Bashneft by the end of the year and exit the oil business. The most likely buyer of the oil company, the agency's sources called the Independent Oil and Gas Company (NOC), controlled by the ex-president of Rosneft Eduard Khudainatov. However, Bashneft President Alexander Korsik said that Yevtushenkov is not thinking about selling the company. Sistema President Mikhail Shamolin told Vedomosti that the company intends to independently develop this asset and may hold an IPO in 2014-2015.

In March 2014, Bashneft bought Oleg Burlakov’s Tyumen oil company Burneftegaz for $1 billion, which was also claimed by Gazprom Neft and Rosneft.

In July 2014, the Basmanny Court of Moscow arrested the controlling stake in Bashneft owned by Sistema in a criminal case regarding the privatization of the oil company. The chairman of the board of directors and the main shareholder of Sistema, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, was summoned for questioning, and he himself regarded what was happening as a raider takeover.

In September 2014, Igor Sechin stated that Rosneft had never considered purchasing shares of Bashneft OJSC due to “skeletons in the closet” and the risks of privatizing this asset.

In October 2014, the Moscow Arbitration Court ruled to reclaim 81.67% of Bashneft shares as state property, and in December Sistema transferred these shares to the Federal Property Management Agency.

In October 2015, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Energy Alexey Teksler, who headed the board of directors of Bashneft, stated that at that time there were no plans for an SPO, but “the management was given the task of always being ready for privatization.” And in July 2016, Rosneft announced that it had received an offer from government consultant VTB Capital to purchase a 50.1% stake in Bashneft during privatization.

The government received two binding proposals from bidders for Bashneft, Ulyukaev said. “The best is higher than the value of the appraiser (from 297 billion to 315 billion rubles - RBC) — was done only by Rosneft PJSC,” Ulyukaev said. According to him, Rosneft’s price offer turned out to be at a significant premium to the current market value of shares: 20.6% to the closing price of trading on September 30 (the day the binding offer was received). The head of the Ministry of Economic Development did not name the second contender, noting only that his application suggested “a slightly lower price.”

According to Ulyukaev, the sale of the state stake in Rosneft will preserve the integrity of Bashneft’s assets and support plans to privatize a 19.5% stake in Rosneft itself.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the deal with Rosneft, which offered the highest price for Bashneft shares, would be beneficial for the country's budget. “This is a neat privatization, keeping in mind the synergistic effect and obtaining the maximum benefit from the point of view of budgetary fiscal interests,” the head of state said at the “Russia Calling!” forum.

On October 10, it became known that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed an order on the direct sale of 50.08% of Bashneft shares to Rosneft for 329.69 billion rubles. The government directive stipulated that state representatives on the board of directors of Rosneft must instruct the head of the company, Igor Sechin, to sign the purchase and sale agreement by October 15.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the sale of 50.075% of the company's shares " Bashneft" “This sale is carried out to the public joint stock company “Oil Company” Rosneft“at a price of 329.690 billion rubles,” he said at a meeting with deputy prime ministers (his words were quoted by TASS).

According to the prime minister, the agent for the deal is “ VTB capital". Payment for the shares must be made before October 14, 2016 on the basis of the purchase and sale agreement, Medvedev indicated. He noted that the Federal Property Management Agency must make all the necessary decisions to transfer income from this transaction to the federal budget.

Rosneft executive director Igor Sechin said that documents for the purchase of a stake in Bashneft by Rosneft could be signed at any time, TASS reports.

According to Rosneft press secretary Mikhail Leontyev, “ Rosneft" has unique experience in asset integration " and it is very successful. “There are working models, it is possible to improve them taking into account the accumulated experience. There are no companies in Russia that have such experience in integrating large assets. We will maximize the synergistic effect. Compared to TNK-BP " Bashneft“is a small asset, and before that (before the purchase of TNK-BP in 2013) there was a lot more,” he told Interfax.

Rosneft shares rose in price

After Dmitry Medvedev’s statement, the oil company’s quotations rose by more than 4% and during trading reached 358.4 rubles. for a security. By 16.55 Moscow time, the company’s shares rose in price by 4.35% to 356.35 rubles. per share.

Leontyev added that Rosneft does not require any additional actions to purchase Bashneft either on the loan market or on the foreign exchange market, because this transaction was preceded by preparation: “The company is ready to purchase [Bashneft]. We were preparing for it, we don’t need to make any additional movements related to the foreign exchange and financial markets.”

A representative of Rosneft called the question of further consolidation of Bashneft and an offer to minority shareholders premature. According to him, the company will act strictly within the framework of current legislation.

BP President Robert Dudley said on Monday morning that BP does not intend to take part in the further privatization of Rosneft. He also added that BP welcomes Rosneft’s purchase of half of Bashneft. “We, as shareholders of Rosneft, do not see any problems if it buys Bashneft. If a decision is made, BP has no objections,” Dudley added.

At the first stage, most likely, Bashneft will remain a separate company, Rosneft will manage it jointly with Bashkiria and pay dividends, says Raiffeisenbank analyst Andrey Polishchuk. This period may take several years. But in the long term, Rosneft is not interested in minority shareholders, especially with a blocking stake, so it will find leverage to consolidate Bashneft 100%: perhaps it will offer Bashkiria a good price for its stake, he believes.

Initially, Bashneft was prepared for public trading - it was claimed by " Lukoil », « Tatneft", Independent Oil and Gas Company (ex-president of Rosneft Eduard Khudainatov), ​​" Russneft", etc. In the summer, Lukoil was considered the favorite, and government and Kremlin officials did not want to allow Rosneft to participate in trading. “It’s stupid that one state-owned company buys another, this is not privatization,” explained presidential aide Andrei Belousov. But formally, Rosneft is not a state-owned company: its shares are owned not by the government, but by the state-owned Rosneftegaz. Rosneft took advantage of this loophole.

In August, the sale of Bashneft was unexpectedly postponed indefinitely. Then, in an interview with Bloomberg, President Vladimir Putin said that although the sale of Bashneft to Rosneft is not the best option, it is important for the budget who gives the most money, and there is no point in discriminating against anyone. " Rosneft” proved that the purchase of Bashneft would increase its capitalization and allow the state to gain more from the sale of Rosneft itself.

Income from Bashneft has already been included in amendments to the budget law as a source of covering the deficit in 2016. The sale of Bashneft should immediately be followed by the sale of 19.5% of Rosneft itself, which should bring 700 billion rubles to the budget.

Having purchased more than 30% of the shares of Bashneft, Rosneft will have to issue an offer to minority shareholders to buy out their shares within 35 days, BGP Litigation lawyer Denis Durashkin previously told Vedomosti. Theoretically, Rosneft can take advantage of a loophole in the law on joint stock companies: the mandatory repurchase requirement does not apply to cases of sale of shares to affiliated parties. Rosneft is a company with state participation, albeit through Rosneftegaz. Theoretically, the state can consider the sale of shares of one state-owned company to another state-owned company to be a transfer of shares to its affiliate, he noted.

Rosneft's offer turned out to be at a significant premium to the current market value of Bashneft

Moscow. October 11. website - Rosneft is not wasting a minute - its latest takeover of an asset probably breaks all speed records. Just on Monday, an order was signed for Rosneft to purchase a 50.0755% stake in Bashneft, as already on Wednesday evening, a few days before the deadline set by the government, and a complete change in the company’s management was announced for Thursday.

Rosneft's extensive experience in the oil takeover market is telling - first there was YUKOS, then TNK-BP. Compared to these giants, there shouldn’t be any problems at all with the small and compact Bashneft. Interfax's interlocutors agree that this is how power should “change” - rapidly, in order to quickly enter into all the business processes of the acquired object. And this will benefit Bashneft itself - the company has been living in a state of tension since February due to uncertainty in connection with privatization. And now all the i's are dotted.

Moreover, the answers to the main questions - at the political level - in the Bashneft deal were given by President Vladimir Putin himself in September. And on Wednesday he convincingly supported the correctness of the chosen course.

Corsica on Shishkina

On Wednesday, perhaps the last intrigue around Bashneft was lifted - a change in top management, which naturally kept the company's staff in suspense both in Moscow and Bashkiria. Although, probably, no one expected such swiftness. On Tuesday afternoon, Bashneft employees were only speculating about when the management might change, not suspecting that active work on its renewal would begin on Tuesday evening.

Interfax sources on Wednesday morning reported on Bashneft President Alexander Korsik, who has headed the company since the time of the “before last” shareholder - AFK Sistema, a complete change in the composition of the board and the convening of an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to elect a new board of directors. Then a company message came out with the agenda of the council meeting scheduled for October 13, on the same items. It is clear that the name of the new head of Bashneft could not remain secret for long - ANI sources reported that Andrei Shishkin, vice president of Rosneft for energy and localization, could be appointed to him.

The market did not expect that Corsik would remain in Bashneft after Rosneft entered it - even at the information level it was difficult to call him a supporter of the sale of Bashneft in favor of Rosneft. It was Korsik who actively promoted the idea of ​​SPO of his company as part of privatization and openly called LUKOIL the best contender for the state stake. At the same time, the company’s team in Corsica continued to work, despite the uncertainty growing every day: in recent years, Bashneft has shown an increase in its main indicators, and has long held a leading position in the growth rate of oil production.

Corsica's ending presidency at Bashneft lasted more than five years and survived two shareholders - first businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov, then state ownership. Before Bashneft, Corsica’s biography included management of Sibneft, Russneft, and Itera.

He does not talk about his plans after Bashneft. “I haven’t planned anything yet,” Korsik told Interfax.

Bashneft presidential candidate Andrei Shishkin has been working at Rosneft since 2012. Initially, he held the post of vice president for energy, industrial safety, labor protection and ecology, since 2014 he became vice president for energy and localization, and since April 2015 - a member of the board of Rosneft. Before working at the largest oil company in Russia, A. Shishkin held senior positions in various financial institutions and companies in the fuel and energy sector, and was also the deputy head of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.

The agency's sources also report that the board of Bashneft will be replaced entirely; after October 13, this governing body will consist exclusively of representatives of Rosneft.

The deal is closed

The deal to acquire a controlling stake in Bashneft has been completed, Rosneft announced on Wednesday evening. Rosneft transferred 329.7 billion rubles to the federal treasury account for the purchase of a controlling stake in Bashneft.

The head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Alexey Ulyukaev, said that Rosneft offered a 20.6% premium to the closing price of the auction on the day the binding offer was received for a controlling stake in Bashneft. According to him, in the process of preparing the transaction, two binding proposals were received from potential buyers of shares; only Rosneft offered a price higher than the value determined by the appraiser.

Rosneft is the only company that has submitted a legally binding proposal to the consultant, VTB Capital, with a price higher than the estimate of an independent appraiser - from 297 billion to 315 billion rubles. The second company, which submitted a legally binding bid, with a slightly lower price,” the minister explained.

VTB CEO Andrei Kostin told reporters that the consulting bank considered “different scenarios,” but the price offered by Rosneft turned out to be high.

The acquisition of the state’s stake in Bashneft will not only “preserve the integrity of the assets” of the company, but also “maximize the synergistic effect from combining the assets of both companies and will support plans for the privatization of a 19.5% stake in Rosneft PJSC,” leads Ministry of Words of Ulyukaev.

“The consultant for Rosneft, Intesa Bank, argued the synergy as follows: first of all, this is refining, because already part of the crude oil produced by Rosneft is processed by Bashneft, there is an optimization of oil flows, and serious savings arise. Second An important aspect is the synergy that arises from the integrated development of fields that are now owned by Rosneft and Bashneft. They believe that there is an effect here, which they estimate in the amount of 150 to 180 billion rubles. Accordingly, this increases the valuation of the asset itself. “Rosneft,” Ulyukaev said.

Putin is surprised, but confident

Vladimir Putin, commenting on the topic of privatization during the VTB Capital investment forum “Russia Calling!”, said that he was surprised by the government’s decision to sell Bashneft to Rosneft, thereby hinting at a grueling discussion about the right of a state-owned company to purchase an asset from the state.

“It may seem strange to you, I myself was surprised by this position of the government. But this is really the position of the government - first of all, its financial and economic bloc,” he said.

The surprise of the Russian President can be understood: first, the privatization of Bashneft was launched, which was declared as the deal of the year in the oil industry, the flagship of open sales and a guarantee of a huge amount coming to the budget. But then the question arose: could a “company with state participation,” which is Rosneft, take part in this privatization. And then the movement stalled, its participants became bewildered, frozen in incomprehension, as a result, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was forced to postpone the Bashneft deal indefinitely.

Dmitry Medvedev also launched the process of privatization of Bashneft again - only now the wheel was turning in a specific direction, and it became clear to everyone that there was only one participant in the movement. This is Rosneft, whose 19.5% stake is also being prepared for privatization, and which is considering the possibility of purchasing its shares too.

On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin gave a comprehensive explanation of this: the price of the privatized stake in Rosneft will increase after the acquisition of Bashneft. He recalled that Rosneft offered the highest price for Bashneft - 330 billion rubles. “This is slightly higher than the estimates made by independent international experts. She offered a price above the market,” the president said.

Pre-sale preparation of Bashneft

In October 2014, Bashneft, whose controlling stake had belonged to AFK Sistema since 2009, became the property of the state by court decision. The court decided that the shares of the Bashkir fuel and energy complex companies in the 1990s were illegally assigned to regional ownership, and therefore all subsequent transactions with them were void.

On May 17, 2016, it was announced that President Vladimir Putin signed the exclusion of 50% plus one share of PJSC Bashneft from the list of strategic enterprises. Thus, the state-owned stake in Bashneft became available for privatization. Active preparations for the privatization of Bashneft began in mid-July, but at the end of August the sale of the company, which was supposed to be one of the main privatization transactions of the year, was unexpectedly sold for an indefinite period.

One of the possible reasons for postponing the sale of the state stake was the government's reluctance to sell the asset on a low market. In addition, the head of Bashkortostan, Rustem Khamitov, is an active opponent of the sale of the state's share in Bashneft (Bashkortostan owns 25% of Bashneft) - there was talk of a possible abandonment of his own brand.

In August, the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, asked the government to allow the company he managed to acquire control in Bashneft for $5 billion at a premium to the market.

Rosneft's competitors

As Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev, Rosneft is the only company that has made a legally binding offer to purchase Bashneft shares at a price higher than the value determined by the appraiser. According to an independent assessment by Ernst & Young, the state stake in Bashneft in August was valued in the range from 297 billion to 315 billion rubles.

Funds from the sale of the stake should go to the budget this year. “You know that these revenues are one way or another taken into account when forming the revenue base of our country’s budget for the current year. We recently discussed measures to consolidate the budget and mobilize additional revenues. Including as part of this work, a decision was made to sell controlling stake in the joint-stock company Bashneft, -

Apparently, the deal will take place without an auction: Rosneft’s competitors also wanted to buy this asset, but will not be able to do so. Now the state is the main shareholder of both Rosneft and Bashneft, so it is difficult not to see signs of a non-market transaction in the sale. But this is not the main problem.

The state acquired a controlling stake in Bashneft under dubious circumstances. From 2009 to 2014 it was owned by AFK Sistema. Almost immediately after Sistema announced that it was ready to conduct a public offering of Bashneft shares, its main owner Vladimir Yevtushenkov was put under house arrest on suspicion of legalizing property (specifically Bashneft) obtained by criminal means.

In October 2014, the court decided that Sistema should return Bashneft to the state due to the illegal privatization of the company in the second half of the 1990s. “Sistema” did not challenge the court’s decision, and Vladimir Yevtushenkov was released from house arrest. Soon the case against the billionaire was closed due to the lack of corpus delicti.

The state, which received Bashneft for free, immediately announced that it intended to get rid of the asset. Privatization was supposed to take place before 2016. According to the law on privatization (Article 5), state-owned companies, that is, legal entities in which more than 25% belongs to the state, cannot participate in it - without additional decrees from the president. If we follow the spirit of the law, Rosneft cannot participate in privatization; however, the controlling stake in Rosneft does not belong to the state directly, but through an intermediary company, the Rosneftegaz company. This allowed Rosneft, led by Igor Sechin, to participate in privatization.

Several players are interested in privatizing Bashneft, including Lukoil, the largest private oil company in Russia. At the last moment, the government postponed privatization indefinitely, and in October 2016, the business media (Interfax, Kommersant, Vedomosti and others) learned from anonymous sources that there would be no bidding at all - the company would be given away without a competition "Rosneft". On October 6, the government, as a shareholder of Rosneft, officially approved its participation in the potential deal.

Why might this be good?

According to Rosneft’s calculations, there will be synergy from the merger of companies, which will increase the capitalization of Rosneft itself. Consequently, with the potential privatization of Rosneft, the state will receive more money. In addition, Rosneft allegedly offers an amount that other market participants cannot offer - this will help the Russian budget cope with the deficit.

Why might this be bad?

The transaction is carried out using a non-market method. Even if we imagine that Rosneft’s participation in the privatization of Bashneft is normal, it is not clear why they abandoned the competition. The closed deal raises suspicions that have not yet been dispelled by anyone of collusion - and reluctance to allow Rosneft's competitors into the competition.

However, the official decision to sell Bashneft without a tender has not yet been made - given how the situation around the asset is changing, it is possible that a tender will still be held.

Why is this still bad?

The deal is reminiscent of Rosneft's purchase of Yukos' main assets. After the bankruptcy of YUKOS, its main assets went to Rosneft. Formally, the transactions were different - then an auction took place, now - not; then Yukos was not transferred to the state balance sheet, but was sold in parts due to demands from tax authorities and other creditors. However, shortly before both transactions, the main shareholders were arrested; in both cases, a cunning scheme was invented for the participation of a state-owned company in the auction (during the sale of YUKOS, the assets were bought by the unknown Baikalfinansgroup, which was later bought by Rosneft).

The deal undermines the government's credibility. And not just governments. “It was decided not to allow state-controlled companies to participate in privatization, and we are talking about both direct and indirect control,” Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said in July. “It’s stupid that one state-owned company buys another state-owned company. This is not privatization,” presidential aide Andrei Belousov echoed him. It turns out that their words mean nothing, but that’s not even the worst thing. Government officials, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, repeat year after year that the Russian economy needs to reduce government participation; as soon as it comes down to it, it turns out that these are just words.

The deal worsens the investment climate. For any investor planning to invest money in the Russian economy, the Bashneft deal means that the state, with the help of investigative bodies and the court, can at any time take away the asset and - after some time - transfer (sell) it to a state-owned company, to which this asset is subject to payment. - reasons why I liked it.

The deal will monopolize the Russian oil market. In 2015, Russia produced 534 million tons of oil. Rosneft's share amounted to 189 million tons. If we add the result of Bashneft to its indicators, we get almost 210 million tons. Rosneft's main competitor, Lukoil, has 85.6 million tons. This was not always the case: over the past decade and a half, state-owned Rosneft has grown mainly through the acquisition of private assets - first Yuganskneftegaz, then TNK-BP, now Bashneft.