Russia's state gas giant Gazprom has allocated 3.75 billion dollars in its 2007 budget to purchase a 20 percent share in its oil unit, Gazprom Neft, from the bankrupt oil company Yukos, according to a Friday report by the Interfax news agency. The planned outlay represents a roughly 3.6 percent discount to Gazprom Neft's market value of 3.89 billion dollars.
Earlier negotiations between Gazprom and Yukos over the stake collapsed after Yukos announced it would sell its holdings through a public auction. Gazprom's board is scheduled to ratify the budget at a 29 November meeting. Neither Interfax nor Gazprom officials publicly confirmed the figures.
The share is among the remaining assets of the oil empire once controlled by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Deutsche Bank has been reported to be in discussions over acquiring other parts of the company. Yukos was declared bankrupt on 1 August after a Moscow court found the firm carried 18 billion dollars in debt against a market value of 17 billion dollars.
Gazprom entered oil production by buying Roman Abramovich's stake in Sibneft, subsequently renamed Gazprom Neft, now Russia's fifth-largest oil producer. Khodorkovsky and Yukos faced 25 billion dollars in back-tax claims from the Russian government in 2004.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.