Privatization "Rosneft": triumph and reason for questions. Andrei Kostin financed "Privatization" by Igor Sechin Pack of Rosneft Shares Qatar in Help

"I want to congratulate you on the completion of a privatization transaction for the implementation of a large package of our leading oil and gas company Rosneft. The transaction is completed on the upward trend of the cost of oil. Accordingly, this is reflected at the cost of the company itself. In this sense, the time is very successful, the total volumes of the transaction are very significant, "the head of the state said Sechin.

As reported, the buyer has become the Consortium of the Glencore company and the Qatari sovereign foundation.

Putin stressed that this is the "largest privatization deal in the oil and gas sector in the world for the outgoing 2016 year."

In turn, the head of the company noted that 49% of Rosneft were privatized as a result of a series of transactions, which made it possible to rescue almost $ 34 billion. "This is almost four times higher than all privatization in the oil and gas sector of Russia. And this deal is also a significant for the global oil sector and, as you were correctly told, the largest selling deal in 2016, "Igor Sechin added.

He also expressed his gratitude to the President of Russia and stated that, taking into account the most complicated foreign economic conjuncture and the extremely compressed period, the transaction became possible only thanks to the personal participation of Vladimir Putin.

"At the same time, the control package of the company itself remains in the hands of the Russian state," the president emphasized.

Sechin noted that, despite the sale of 19.5% of Rosneft shares, the cost of the company's state package will grow by 80 billion rubles.

The structure of the transaction itself, as reported by RIA Novosti, will probably be disclosed after December 15, when funds will receive funds from the sale of shares of the company. However, it is already known that the consortium participants are Glencore and the Qatari Sovereign Fund - have equal shares (50% of the volume of acquired shares). In addition, the transaction implies a contract with the Glencore for the supply of hydrocarbons and the creation of a joint venture with a consortium for mining, and a loan from a major European bank was brought to its implementation.

Putin also instructed the head of Rosneft to work out a scheme for converting a large currency, which will go to Russia. So, at the current rate, the amount of the transaction is more than 717 billion rubles.

Oil and ruble reaction

In these news, the ruble exchange rate to the dollar and the euro, according to the Moscow Exchange, showed a small increase. The dollar exchange rate "Tomorrow" by 21:33 MSK decreased by 0.31 rubles to 63.57 rubles, the euro rate was 0.09 rubles to 68.34 rubles.

In turn, the price of Brent oil barrel added about $ 0.3 - to $ 53.6.

"An unexpected deal"

In an interview with RT, the Director of the Energy Development Foundation Sergei Pikin noted that despite the fact that the negotiations on the sale of a part of Rosneft shares were conducted for a long time, the deal with this buyer became surprising for the market.

"Until that moment, everyone thought that Rosneft would buy out shares on their own and attract money for this. But in reality, negotiations with companies around the world - and Asian and European were conducted for recent times. As a result, this deal with Glencore, which is a trader, and the Sovereign Qatar Foundation has become a surprise for the market, "the expert on energy was told.

He stressed that what she had was definitely good for the Russian budget. "This is an" external "deal, and not the purchase of Rosneft itself. And this is good because potential dividends are preserved, which can be listed in the budget. It is beneficial for the budget, and that is exactly today and sounded, "Sergei Pikin added.

Recall, in early November, the Russian government published a directive for sale until December 5, 19.5% of Rosneftegaz shares. Money must be listed in the federal budget no later than December 31.

The head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, told Russian President Vladimir Putin about the completion of the company's privatization transaction. On Wednesday, the spokesman for the head of state, Dmitry Sadkov, told reporters on Wednesday.

According to him, the strategic investors in the privatization of shares became a consortium from the companies of Glencore and the Sovereign Foundation of the Qatar, TASS reports. The consortium participants have equal shares of 50%.

"I look at the fact that the arrival of new investors is the consortium of the Qatar State Fund and the largest global international trader company Glencore - I hope that their coming to the authorities will improve corporate procedures, the company's transparency and, accordingly, will ultimately lead to The growth of capitalization. At the same time, the company's control package remains in the hands of the Russian state - 50 more percent, "the president noted.

Putin believes that the privatization deal is made on an uptrend trend, in a good time and that this should not lead to the oscillations of the ruble in the foreign exchange market.

In the budget of the country from the privatization of 19.5% of Rosneft shares will receive € 10.5 billion.

The head of state instructed to carry out a phased conversion in the rugs from privatization in order to avoid coursework oscillations. "The President noted that in the coming days there will be a significant amount of currency in the country, and in order to avoid any course fluctuations, it is necessary to provide for the appropriate phased conversion system," the sands reported.

"For this, the president commissioned Sechin to work out the appropriate scheme for conversion of conversion with the government, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank," said the spokesman for the Russian leader.

Earlier, on Wednesday, Rosneft, "Rosneft" has already informed about the completion of the placement of decadent exchange bonds for a total of 600 billion rubles.

The company said that the papers were postponed in full on an open subscription and were paid in non-cash. At the same time, large transactions, as well as transactions, which would be interested in the issuer, did not accomplish in the process of placing bonds.

At the beginning of this November, the Government of the Russian Federation published a directive, in accordance with which Rosneftegaz must sell 19.5% of Rosneft shares to at least 710.847 billion rubles until December 5. No later than December 15, it is necessary to complete the calculations with the buyer, and until December 31, the money received from the transaction should be listed in the federal budget.

On Monday, December 5, it became known that Rosneft was a collection of applications for participation in the placement of its bonds worth 600 billion rubles, RBC writes. According to the sources of publication, the collection of investors' proposals for 10-year-old NC securities passed without prior notice of potential buyers, applications were taken from 17:00 to 17:30 Moscow time.

The head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin reported to President Vladimir Putin for the sale of 19.5% of the company's shares for € 10.5 billion. Customers became Glencore and Sovereign Qatar Investment Authority Foundation, which will receive 9.75% of Rosneft

The Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft Igor Sechin and Russian President Vladimir Putin. February 2015. (Photo: Mikhail Climetyev / Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation / TASS)

$ 17.5 billion in two months

The Chief Executive Officer Rosneft Igor Sechin reported to President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on the completion of the company's privatization transaction, the Kremlin website said. € 10.5 billion will go to the privatization budget (721.25 billion rubles. At the rate of the Central Bank on December 7), Putin said. And with the control packet of "Bashneft", which Rosneft bought on October 12 for $ 5.3 billion, - $ 17.5 billion, he added.

"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 for the outgoing 2016 year," Putin emphasized.

Buyers 19.5% of Rosneft became a consortium from the world's largest trader company Glencore and sovereign Qatar Investment Authority (according to June, it was running $ 335 billion under control). "I hope that their coming to the authorities will improve corporate procedures, the transparency of the company and, accordingly, will eventually lead to an increase in capitalization," the president noted. Glencore and Qatar Investment Authority will receive 50% in this consortium, clarified Sechin (quote on RIA Novosti). That is, the effective proportion of each buyer is 9.75%. This is the third package after state "Rosneftegaz" (its share will decrease from 69.5 to 50% plus three shares) and BP (19.75%).

"The transaction was committed on an upward trend of the cost of oil, respectively, this is reflected at the cost of the company itself," Putin is sure. As long ago, OPEC countries agreed to reduce production for the first time in eight years, waiting for this decision and after its adoption of oil quotes passed $ 50 per barrel. On Wednesday, Brent oil traded at $ 53.15 per barrel.

Sechin said that in the framework of the preparation of this transaction Rosneft held talks with more than 30 potential investors - companies, funds, professional investors, sovereig funds, financial institutions in Europe, America, the Middle East, the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

Sechin and the first vice-president of Rosneft in economics and finances Pavel Fedorov were in foreign business trips in the past few weeks - they met with potential applicants for 19.5% of Rosneft. About this RBC told familiar top managers and confirmed the federal official. That is why the heads of Rosneft were not on the announcement of Putin's posture to the Federal Assembly on December 1 in the Kremlin (representatives of large business are usually invited), one of the sources of RBC said.

Over the day before, on Tuesday, the head of Glencore Ivan Hechisenberg came to Moscow to the Sberbank Conference for Metallurgy. Then he refused to communicate with RBC correspondent, saying that he was very in a hurry ("I" m in a rush, "said Glesenberg). Glencore only in early December reported that she completed the global sale of assets for $ 4.7 billion to reduce the debt ( By the end of the year, it should be reduced to $ 16.5-17.5 billion). At the same time, Glaisenberg said that the company is ready to make purchases again.

Sechin assured that this transaction is "not just a portfolio investment", and "strategic": a company together with the consortium participants will create a joint venture in the field of oil production in Russia and in the world and will "coordinate positions in the markets." In addition, this transaction includes a contract for the supply of oil with Glencore, he added.

"Taking into account the most complicated foreign economic conjuncture and extremely compressed for such projects, I report that such a deal has become possible only thanks to your personal contribution, the support that we received from you during this work," said Rosneft, referring to Putin. By order of the government published in early November, the transaction for the sale of 19.5% of Rosneft should be completed until December 5, and until December 15, money from the transaction should be included in the budget.

Press Secretary of Rosneft Mikhail Leontyev refused to comment on the terms of the transaction. Its amount (721.25 billion rubles) turned out to be higher than the minimum price indicated at the disposal of the government - 710.8 billion rubles. But following the results of trading on Wednesday, December 7, at the Moscow Stock Exchange, 19.5% of Rosneft was even more expensive - 736.2 billion rubles. Discount to the market price Rosneft on the exchange on December 6 was only 5%, Sechin said.

Unexpected news

Since the privatization of 19.5% of Rosneft was supposed to be completed in a short time, until the end of 2016, to replenish the scarce budget, Rosneft was considered the most real applicant for this package. About this "interim" version (it was assumed that then Rosneft resell their shares to third-party investors) in October spoke Putin. And last week, his assistant and chairman of the Board of Directors of Rosneft, Andrei Belousov, said that the government still considers two options for the privatization of Rosneft shares - "either it will be an investor, or it will be BUY-BACK." But with a proposal about the format of the transaction, the company must first come out, he emphasized. In order to clarify the situation, he even turned with a letter to Sechin. He answered him in time, December 1. "Everything, we have complete clarity. [Management] responded to those questions that I had like the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rosneft, Igor Ivanovich [Sechin] replied, "said the official then.

For sale 19.5% of Rosneft consortium from Glencore and Qatar Investment Authority - unexpected news for the market, obviously, this is a personal merit of Schina, the director of Small Letters Vitaly Kryukov. It indicates that the coming of the Qatar Foundation is particularly interesting, which was not previously noticed in large investments in the Russian oil industry, while Glencore is already included in the "RussNeft" capital (owned 25%) and is a major buyer of Russian oil. He believes that with Qatar, which is included in OPEC, now there may be new projects in the Russian oil industry after this transaction. This is really the largest deal in the energy world market, notes the partner of KPMG in Russia Anton Usov. Real privatization occurred, the parish of foreign investors in the Russian oil industry in this is quite difficult for the oil industry time is very positive news, he adds.

At the meeting with Sechin Putin, Rosneft was instructed to develop the most secure for the financial market the conversion scheme € 10.5 billion from the sale of 19.5% of Rosneft shares for enrolling in the federal budget. "The financial market will now receive a significant amount of foreign currency, the money must be taken to the budget in the ruble equivalent, so we need to develop an such scheme that would not have affected the market negatively, would not cause some kind of jumps in the foreign exchange market," Putin said . He recalled that Rosneftegaz, who ultimately must transfer money to the budget, there are significant resources in rubles. In addition, he instructed Rosneft together with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank to develop "phased movements" on currency conversion so that there were no oscillations in the financial market. "We are in contact with the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, I will definitely report to the Chairman of the Government [Dmitry Medvedev] and we will develop such a scheme that guarantees the minimum impact on the market," he promised Sechin.

With the participation of Lyudmila subhead

The "breakthrough" of Putin's business in the open world turned out to be a transceiver, as a result of which the state-owned VTB Bank acquired shares toxic Sechin "Rosneft".

"I want to congratulate you," said Vladimir Putin President Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin, a strong handshake greeting him in the Kremlin in December 2016.

Sechin has just announced the sale of 19.5 percent of the shares of Rosneft the Sovereign Foundation of the Qatar and the Raw Trader Glencore headed by the oil giant.

A privatization transaction worth 10.2 billion euros ($ 11.5 billion) was extremely necessary to replenish the Russian treasury, exhausted by falling prices for energy resources and Western sanctions.

Some Russian officials said that the deal was proof that despite the growing political isolation from the West, Russia is still capable of attracting global investors.

Now, after almost two years after the announcement of the sale, nine sources familiar with the transaction, Reuters reported that the Russian state bank VTB financed a significant part of the transaction, contrary to the stated goal to attract foreign money to Russia.

Based on information of five sources, the size of the Russian loan by the Qatari sovereign foundation was about $ 6 billion.

VTB denies the issuance of the loan by the Qatar Fund - Qatar Investment Authority (QIA): "VTB did not allocate and does not plan to allocate the QIA loan to finance the acquisition."

VTB reporting for September, posted on the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, showed that VTB lent 434 billion rubles to unnamed foreign borrowers for up to three years, after he himself took 350 billion rubles from the Central Bank.

VTB refused to comment on these transactions. CBR did not answer questions.

Qia refused comments. The Kremlin did not respond to a request for comments. Rosneft did not answer questions about VTB Cataru's credit.

Effective privatization

Rosneft is the world's largest oil company in the amount of production, the shares of which are treated on the stock exchange, - pearl in the Russian corporate crown.

However, Sechin collided with a difficult task - to find buyers or lenders wishing to risk their money and buy a share in Rosneft in terms of sanctions against the Russian Federation and against the background of their tightening.

Sanctions introduced against Russia after annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea in 2014, limit the access of Russian companies to international debt markets.

In the end, in order to attract foreign investors, Russia had to lend them billions, sources say. Two sources familiar with the transaction said that the presence of a third party financing a significant part of the transaction was a condition for the acquisition of Qatar to Rosneft.

Now, when oil prices significantly exceed the levels of the end of 2016, Russia's need for foreign money decreased.

But if she will have to go to international markets again, the story of selling Rosneft's share indicates the challenges with which she may encounter in attempts to attract foreign investors, especially if the United States expands sanctions against Russia.

Among the nine sources that told the Reiter about Credit VTB Qatar, a source close to the leadership of VTB, an employee of the Central Bank, as well as a source in the Government of the Russian Federation, familiar with foreign investment in Russia.

At least four sources were directly involved in the preparation of the loan. All sources spoke on the conditions of anonymity, because they are not authorized to discuss the transaction.

In response to the question, as privatization passed, Rosneft reported that the transaction was transparent and market, and also responded to the interests of all shareholders.

The company reported that all solutions belonging to the transaction were the relevant procedures for corporate approval, the transaction was supported by the governments of the participants' countries and passed through the control procedures in relevant jurisdictions.

"This is a unique example of effective privatization," Rosneft says.

From the bay to Japan

By the end of 2016, the pressure on Sechina, one of Putin's nearest comrades, began to grow. The government has publicly announced that it will sell 19.5 percent of Rosneft shares until the end of the year.

The state budget suffered from reducing oil prices, economic downturn and Western sanctions, showed a deficit of 3.5 percent of GDP. The Russian economy experienced the second year of recession and the prospect of rapid restoration of public finances was absent.

By the fall of 2016, Sechin, who was now 58 years old, believed that found a potential buyer: the sovereign Foundation of the United Arab Emirates Mubadala.

According to two sources familiar with the development of events, the Foundation agreed to buy a share. But the negotiations went into a dead end, after Rosneft changed the value of the share of Rosneft, which forced the UAE to refuse the deal, they said two sources.

Mubadala refused comments. Rosneft did not respond to questions about negotiations with Mubadala.

After that, Sechin turned her eyes to the east, starting negotiations with Japanese officials, the source was told in the Russian government and a source close to Rosneft. This is also evidenced by the record of the conversation with the participation of Sechin, which appeared in the framework of the court case, according to which he was witnessed.

Negotiations were mainly conducted with the Minister of Economics, Trade and Industry of Japan Hiroshue Sako.

In the event of a transaction, the owner of the share would be a large Japanese investmentfund, such as the state pension GPIF, which is the assets under the control of which are $ 1.4 trillion, or the National Corporation of Oil, Gas and Metals Jogmec, said the Reuters of three sources familiar with the negotiations.

According to Sechin on records reproduced in court, an obstacle arose on the way to the transaction, when Japan began to insist on its linking with progress in the territorial dispute about the Kuril Islands.

As a result, the deal broke down.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan did not answer questions. Rosneft did not answer questions about the negotiations with Japan. Jogmec press service reported that it cannot give a comment. GPIF reported that he would not comment on intergovernmental negotiations, because they did not directly participate in them.

Qatar is in a hurry to help?

Not finding the buyer, Sechin focused on new candidates: QAIA QIA and the International Glencore Trader.

None of them was ready to pay the full price, they said three sources.

In the past, Rosneft resorted to the services of large Western banks, such as Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, to finance transactions. However, international lenders did not declare new transactions with Rosneft after the imposition against Russia sanctions in 2014.

Intesa Sanpaolo joined the game, the Italian bank, which had little experience in large Russian corporate transactions.

By the beginning of December 2016, a plan for financing a deal was formed. Buyers allocated some of their own funds: Qatar - 2.5 billion euros, Glencore - 300 million euros.

The remaining part fell on a debt, from which Intesa made 5.2 billion euros. The missing part, according to Glencore, should be provided by Russian banks. These lenders were never named.

The amount that came to Russian banks was about $ 2.5 billion. Two banking sources close to Rosneft said Reuters that VTB was one of the banks that took part in $ 2.5 billion loans in 2016.

These sources said that the other banks were Gazprombank and FC discovery, which, like VTB, are associated with the state, although the discovery was private during the transaction.

It is not clear what part of the $ 2.5 billion provided each of the Russian banks.

VTB participation in attracting $ 2.5 billion is not associated with those about $ 6 billion, which, according to nine sources, VTB provided Qatar this year.

On the question of loans for $ 2.5 billion VTB, he answered that he did not provide funding, and was a coordinating bank from Rosneft.

The opening refused comment, Gazprombank did not answer questions.

As for the largest share of financing, a loan by 5.2 billion euros provided by Intesa, the Italian bank planned to syndicate these funds - a common practice designed to disperson the risks and reduce the burden of bank capital.

However, two bank sources and a source close to the Italian side of the transaction were told that syndication was broken, as Western banks, to which Intesa addressed, was too afraid of risks, since Rosneft and Sechin are under the US sanctions.

Intesa refused comments.

Another failure

During the announcement of the transaction in December 2016 and for weeks after it, Russian officials publicly declared a long-term partnership with new Rosneft shareholders - Qatar and Glencore.

However, when in September 2017, Sechin announced the purchase of 14.2 percent of Rosneft in the Catar consortium and the Glencore of the Chinese energy company CEFC, it became clear that the transaction was not yet completed.

Explaining why the initial agreement was not crowned with success, he told the Russian state television channel that new shareholders considered too high the cost of service of debt.

However, the transaction with CEFC was not closed due to the investigation into the head of the company E Jianmin, which was under investigation due to suspicion of economic crimes.

About the status of the investigation since then nothing is known, as well as the charges of the charges were presented. The name E, however, was mentioned in connection with the case of bribery in relation to the high-ranking function of the Chinese Communist Party, the State CCTV television channel reported in September.

No e nor CEFC answered the request for comments.

Sechina again had to look for the buyer.

As a result, in May 2018, Qatar agreed to become the owner of the share in Rosneft, financed by Intesa.

Officially, no one said that a new deal with Qatar was financed, or by whom the funds were provided.

But Intesa participation in it ended.

The document dated September 6, 2018 and submitted to Singapore's business registry, where the company owned by Rosneft's shares on the face of Qatar and Glencore, testifies that Intes has ceased to be a lender and does not hold shares as collateral.

The document does not specify who became a new lender. According to nine sources familiar with the agreements, this creditor is VTB.

At the reception at the Italian embassy in Moscow, on the occasion of obtaining the Order "For Services to the Italian Republic" in November last year, Sechin kept the gray-haired man in fashionable glasses.

It was Andrei Kostin, the head of the bank, who helped to finance privatization - VTB.

 

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