Why did the shares of one of the largest Russian oil companies suddenly rise in price?

The shares of Surgutneftegaz, which had accumulated almost 3 trillion rubles in its accounts, went up by 28% for the period from October 23 to 25 without any obvious reason, and the company's capitalization rose to 2 trillion rubles. RBC understood the reasons for the hype on the stock exchange

Shares of Surgutneftegaz began to rise sharply in the afternoon on Wednesday, October 23rd. By the close of trading on Friday, October 25, the price per ordinary share rose from 36.41 to 46.58 rubles, or 27.9%. As a result, the company's capitalization (including preferred shares) reached almost 2 trillion rubles.

Not only price dynamics looked extreme, but also trading volumes, Alexander Bakhtin, an investment strategist at BCS Premier, told RBC. The trading volume of Surgutneftegaz shares on Friday exceeded 17 billion rubles. At the same time, even the "locomotives" of the Russian market, Gazprom and Sberbank, showed smaller volumes - 11 billion and 12 billion rubles. accordingly, he pointed out.

The volume of trading in ordinary shares of Surgutneftegaz has deviated from the average values ​​by 10-15 times in recent days, investment strategist at Alor Broker Pavel Verevkin confirms. In the first week of October, the average daily turnover of the oil company's shares was at the level of 1.2 billion rubles. According to the Moscow Exchange, on October 23 (Wednesday) on the main market, it reached 8.8 billion rubles, on the 24th - 13.5 billion rubles, and on Friday, October 25, it jumped to 17.3 billion rubles. OTC transactions were also made with Surgutneftegaz shares: on Friday their volume was small - 22.3 million rubles, but on Wednesday and Thursday it exceeded 1 billion rubles.

Experts put forward various versions of such an unexpected demand for securities.

1. Inside trading

The hype in the market and emotional purchases are unlikely to explain the dynamics of the value of Surgutneftegaz shares, says Bakhtin. The sharp rise in price may be associated with purchases by large players who have inside corporate information. “Of course, private and small investors bought securities, there is an influence of algorithmic trading, this all strengthened the movement, but it is so strong and long-lasting that there is probably a driver in the form of large corporate money. Even at 30-minute intervals, there were large purchases and high turnover,” notes the investment strategist of BCS Premier.

“The market behaves as if Surgutneftegaz is going to do something with its savings, for example, to acquire some oil and gas asset,” admits Aleksey Kokin, senior oil and gas analyst at Uralsib Bank.

According to the results of the first half of 2019, there were almost 3 trillion rubles on the accounts of Surgutneftegaz. But the company is greatly undervalued, as the market did not appreciate the money that was on its balance sheet. “All cash (cash. — RBC) on the balance sheet was actually valued at zero, as if this money did not exist. Accordingly, any action with this cash in terms of investment, even if it is unprofitable, should have a positive effect on the shares, ”Andrey Polishchuk, an analyst at Raiffeisenbank, told RBC.

“Even if a company invests in an unprofitable asset that is worth half as much as their investment, half of that cash has to be included in the valuation one way or another,” Polishchuk explains. He declined to comment on what upcoming corporate events could have provoked the growth of Surgutneftegaz's papers.

2. Rumors about buying a stake in LUKOIL

The growth of Surgutneftegaz's papers is supported by rumors in the market and "will live no further than Monday", Verevkin is sure. One of these rumors is that a deal is being prepared with Lukoil and Surgutneftegaz may get a share in it, the expert knows. A big deal like this could oblige the company to buy back shares, "and everyone hopes it's at a good price," he says.

The fact that Surgut intends to acquire a stake in Russia's largest private oil company was reported by the Oil and Gas Vertical publication on Friday, citing two sources on stock market and a government interlocutor. According to him, we are talking about buying a share of the largest co-owner and president of LUKOIL, Vagit Alekperov (about 27% of the company). The capitalization of LUKOIL according to the results of trading on Friday is 4.374 trillion rubles, and the value of Alekperov's share is about 1.2 trillion rubles.

“For a couple of days, in connection with the growth of Surgutneftegaz shares, there have been rumors on the market that the company is buying a stake in LUKOIL, and that the head and largest co-owner of LUKOIL, Vagit Alekperov, specially flew to Surgut, where the headquarters is located Surgutneftegaz, a source who spoke with several traders told RBC.

RBC's source in LUKOIL denied the information about Alekperov's trip to Surgut in the last two weeks. “He flew to Kogalym and Abu Dhabi. I don't know about his communication there with [the general director of Surgutneftegaz Vladimir] Bogdanov. He definitely didn’t fly to Surgut, ”said the interlocutor of RBC. Later, the press service of LUKOIL officially denied the information that appeared in the media about the sale of a stake in the company to Surgutneftegaz. A representative of Surgutneftegaz declined to comment on the rumors.

3. Hypothetical participation in the IPO of Saudi Aramco

The second rumor on the market is that Surgutneftegaz will take part in the IPO of Saudi Aramco, one of the world's largest oil producers, Verevkin says. “Basically, Russia already has a lot of its own oil capabilities in order to massively invest in Saudi Aramco. Nevertheless, indeed, a number of Russian investors have an interest in this IPO,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), during the Russian-Saudi Economic Forum in Riyadh on October 14. This IPO, scheduled before the end of the year, could be the largest in history: with a 2% stake, the company could raise $40 billion.

Surgutneftegaz, which adheres to a conservative financial policy, has made only one major purchase abroad in its history - in 2006 it acquired a stake in the Hungarian MOL. But this purchase was perceived by Hungary with hostility, so the Russian company had to sell the asset.

4. Hope for a buy-back

For a company with large deposits such as Surgutneftegaz, whose market undervaluation is the most pronounced, such a rise in share prices may be due either to the need to increase capitalization on the eve of a large independent takeover, or the company is preparing the ground for realizing one of the of their packages, Ilya Zharsky, managing partner of the Veta expert group, told RBC.

One version of such strong growth is that Surgut, following LUKOIL, which has been buying back its own shares (buy-back) for $ 3 billion since August 2018 (and recently announced its new stage), plans to launch its own program buy-back, Zharsky notes. True, in the case of Surgutneftegaz, this is some kind of indefinite step - the company has become one of the most expensive in a few days, the expert points out. “Such a rapid rise for buy-back, in our opinion, is not quite typical,” he notes.

“The market is discussing that Surgutneftegaz will buy back shares from minority shareholders and leave the stock exchange, becoming a completely private company,” says RBC’s source on the stock market. Unlike LUKOIL, Surgutneftegaz has a very opaque ownership structure - it is looped, so it is not known who the main shareholders of the company are in reality, except for management, and how many minority shareholders it has.

5. Games of speculators

The October rise in quotations is not the first for Surgutneftegaz shares this year. At the end of August, the oil company created a "daughter" LLC "Rion", which declared investment in securities and management of securities as a type of activity. On this news, the oil company's ordinary shares jumped 30% in five days, to 35.5 rubles. a piece. The head of the company, Vladimir Bogdanov, “speculated” the information that Rion was created to invest in the papers of Surgut: “These are speculations of those who want to get rid of shares, sell them at a higher price.” According to Bogdanov, the sharp rise in the company's shares in early September was provoked by the actions of speculators on the stock exchange.

In the same way, this time a sharp jump in the oil company's securities may be associated with the actions of speculators who purchased certain stakes, caused an increase in quotations and are now earning thanks to rumors about transactions involving Surgut in the near future, a source on the stock market told RBC. “If we talk about the version with the activity of speculators, then their actions, in our opinion, could not have had such a high effect - never before have speculators brought the value of the company's securities to the highs of 2006,” Zharsky objects, assuming that the market will soon recognize him real reason.

On Thursday, October 24, it also became known that the analytical division of Sberbank - Sberbank Investment Research - stopped the analysis of Surgutneftegaz. The bank's press service told Interfax that this is a standard practice in the preparation of analytical reports. “In a situation where it is necessary to adjust the estimated indicators for securities issuers, the preparation of analytical reports is suspended until the full clarification of the circumstances,” said the representative of the bank. Usually, an investment bank suspends the analysis of an issuer if it prepares some kind of deal with its securities or participates in attracting financing for it, so that there is no conflict of interest, an analyst at another large bank notes. Such information can also become a reason for speculation in the market, he adds.

Will 34 billion dollars disappear from Surgut's account - and what will they do.

Ten years ago, Vladimir Putin's associates imprisoned Mikhail Khodorkovsky after taking possession of his Yukos company. Last year they forced billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov to transfer Bashneft to the state. Next in line is the next major corporate treasure: OAO Surgutneftegaz (MICEX: SNGS).

The Siberian oil company, run by Soviet sourdough entrepreneur Vladimir Bogdanov for the past three decades, has amassed about $34 billion in its accounts (Bloomberg estimates based on data released by the company on April 30). After the imposition of sanctions in connection with the events in Ukraine, Russia was cut off from world financial markets, and the Russian government is considering the possibility of printing the “jug” of a company that it previously called inviolable, three bankers close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg, who asked not to be identified . Alexander Branis, investment director at Prosperity Capital Management, a Moscow-based company that owns shares in Surgutneftegaz, says:

"Investors fear that Surgut will not be able to dispose of the accumulated money at its own discretion, and that they will be used against the interests of minority shareholders."

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the situation, arguing that Surgut is a "private company." Bogdanov also declined to comment through his press office.

In March, the president signaled a change in policy towards Surgut, mentioning at an event outside Moscow that Bogdanov had "large-scale investment plans" and "there is work to be done there."

Sechin, Rosneft

Bankers (and a high-ranking government official confirms their words) say that Surgut's money can be used to pay the debts of Rosneft (LSE IOB : ROSN). If Surgutneftegaz buys a 19.5% stake in Rosneft, which is planned to be put up for sale, then company president Igor Sechin will have a partner who can help refinance Rosneft's $23.5 billion debt (which is due soon).

A government source believes that such a deal would contribute to the recovery of Rosneft, the largest public oil company in the world by production, and would benefit the entire energy industry providing most of the budget revenues.

Enlisting Surgut to help Rosneft will also make it easier for the government to develop measures to support enterprises in the face of the country's first recession in six years. Earlier, Rosneft asked for 1.3 trillion rubles from the National Wealth Fund, but the Ministry of Economic Development said that it would not be able to meet these requirements in full.

"People's" company

The government is going to set a price for Rosneft shares no less than at the initial placement in 2006. At that time, $10.7 billion was raised, at $7.55 per share. Over the past year, Rosneft's shares on the London Stock Exchange have fallen by 20% to $5.15, that is, the company's capitalization has fallen to $54 billion. The value of Surgutneftegaz shares has remained virtually unchanged over the same period - the company is still worth about $26 billion.

According to Branis, the fact that market value company about $8 billion below the value of its liquid assets can be attributed to Putin's influence. As dividends over the past 10 years, Surgut has paid out more than $10 billion.

Bogdanov, 63, believes that everything Putin does is in the interests of Russia. He says he's ready to use financial resources Surgutneftegaz, which he calls the "people's" company - as the president asks. This was stated in an interview by Alexander Ryazanov, a former deputy chairman of the board of OAO Gazprom (MICEX: GAZP), who has known Bogdanov for more than 20 years:

“He understands that he will not be able to use this money as he sees fit. A few years ago, he told me that he only had interest at his disposal, which was $1 billion a year. It suits him just fine."

Money in accounts

Reporting shows that fixed assets are kept in the form of long-term deposits in the three largest state-owned banks: Sberbank (about $14 billion), VTB (7 billion) and Gazprombank (3 billion). Most of the remaining amount is accounted for by the Russian subsidiary of the Italian UniCredit (BIT: UCG), accounting for more than half of the bank's total deposits. All the listed banks declined to comment through their press services.

Investors suspect that only Putin personally can decide on the distribution of Surgut's funds.

The President and Igor Sechin have known Bogdanov since their days at the St. Petersburg mayor's office. Then Surgutneftegaz exported the products of one of its processing facilities located near St. Petersburg through the company of the future billionaire Gennady Timchenko, Andrey Katkov, Timchenko's partner at that time, told about this. Two bankers familiar with Bogdanov's affairs also said he was involved in financing Putin's 2000 election campaign.

"Siberian hermit"

In the media and among associates, Bogdanov received the nickname "Siberian hermit." He rarely leaves his native Surgut, likes to walk to work, and spends his holidays digging in his mother's garden. At the same time, he is the keeper of one of the best-kept secrets of Russian business: who actually controls Russia's fourth largest oil company.

Bogdanov is one of the last "red directors", that is, former Soviet leaders who retained their place at the head of the enterprise. The company, which he manages alone, employs about a third of the inhabitants of 300,000 Surgut. At the same time, he officially owns less than a percentage of the shares. Ryazanov says:

"He's more like a good hired manager than a co-owner."

Neither the company nor the government disclose who controls the network of legal entities that collectively own 70% of the company's shares. The rest, Bloomberg's data analysis shows, is owned by thousands of investors, including the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, one of the largest foreign shareholders, with a 0.65% share. The Foundation declined to comment on the matter.

"In time you will see"

According to Katkov, Bogdanov has two passions - oil drilling and hoarding. He never borrows, keeps capital investments to a minimum, and avoids buying companies.

The only major acquisition took place in 2009, when Surgutneftegaz bought a 21% stake in Mol Nyrt. (WSE: MOL), after which the Hungarian government issued a hostile warning absorption. Two years later, Hungary paid Surgutneftegaz 1.88 billion to exit the company. Euro, providing the latter with a profit of 500 million euros.

During one of the rare meetings with journalists in 2002, when the amount of cash in the company's accounts for the first time reached $4 billion, Bogdanov answered a question about plans for these funds:

“Spending money - you don’t need a lot of mind. You will see in time. We know what we're doing."

Security threat

Bogdanov ended up at the head of Surgutneftegaz in the mid-1990s, when Boris Yeltsin's government was selling shares of large industrial enterprises at loans-for-shares auctions. At that time, the Surgutneftegaz pension fund acquired a 40% stake in the parent company for an amount equivalent to less than $100 million at the time.

The ownership structure changed several times until Bogdanov eventually took control of the company through two dozen legal entities with overlapping ownership, the sources say. All of these firms are registered in Surgut by current or former employees, and none of them own more than 5%, which circumvents the disclosure requirement.

Once the largest foreign investor in the Russian market, William Browder was barred from entering the country in 2005 after trying to open up Surgutneftegaz, Gazprom and other companies.

At that moment, he was suing Surgut, claiming that the management illegally controlled 62% of the voting shares through papers owned by the company. Browder's visa was cancelled, he himself was called a "threat to national security", and a month later the lawsuit was dismissed.

Ten years later, Browder, who once called Bogdanov "the Saddam Hussein of Russian business," still doesn't know who made the decision to keep him out of the country. Browder said:

“Two main theories are connected with the troubles that I arranged for Surgut and Gazprom. Surgut is one of the largest oil companies in the world, but it is completely non-transparent. Why does no one know who it belongs to?

In a review of British newspapers:

"Secret No. 1 in the Russian oil industry"

Financial Times Moscow correspondent Charles Clover is trying to unravel the mystery of Siberian oil. He writes that Surgutneftegaz's confusing ownership structure makes it impossible to try to ascertain who actually owns the company.

The owners of the shares of the fourth largest oil company in Russia are more than 20 different organizations, companies, trusts, as well as the employees of Surgutneftegaz themselves. The problem is that it is very difficult to establish who owns these small companies located in or near Surgut itself, writes Clover.

Even Surgut Mayor Dmitry Popov admits that he does not know who owns the energy company that covers 70% of the city's budget. The company's ownership structure is like a "military secret" that the mayor believes should deter competitors who are considering buying it.

Surgutneftegaz has never provided information about who owns its shares, or why its structure resembles a chain reaction, where one company owns a second, a second a third, and so on, the FT notes.

The last time the CEO Vladimir Bogdanov answered a question about the owners of the company was back in 2008. He said at the time that he himself did not know who held the majority of the company's shares. He himself, Bogdanov explained, owns less than 2% of the shares, and therefore does not even have access to the register of shareholders.

Bogdanov himself, writes the correspondent of the Financial Times, is considered a very secretive and modest person. “Wherever he appears, this is already an event,” Surgut PR agent Vladimir Bedeh tells Charles Clover. “We don’t often see him in public.”

Liberal politician Vladimir Milov, who served as Russia's deputy energy minister until 2002, says the circular and intricate system was deliberately designed to hide well-known shareholder politicians, perhaps even from the highest echelons of power in the Kremlin.

"Who really owns Surgutneftegaz is the No. 1 secret in the Russian oil industry," Milov said.

Surgutneftegaz has never provided information about who owns its shares, or why its structure resembles a chain reaction, where one company owns the second, the second the third, and so on Financial Times

Clover draws attention to some rather interesting investment projects of the company - it allocated money for the repair of a nuclear submarine base in Kamchatka, for which Vladimir Putin personally thanked her in a newspaper article.

“Just like many state-owned companies act like they are private, Surgutneftegaz is a private company that behaves like a state-owned company,” says local journalist Taras Samborsky.

Surgutneftegaz, continues the Financial Times, was privatized in 1994-96. If other large energy companies - for example, YUKOS or TNK - fell into the hands of bankers and oligarchs, then Surgutneftegaz remained one of the few that was managed by a "labor collective of workers", and Vladimir Bogdanov was already at the head of this "collective". But since that time, new owners have appeared on the horizon.

The FT writes that the company is closely linked to a circle of businessmen who began to flourish after Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000. Surgutneftegaz is unusually loyal to one man - Gennady Timchenko, who is considered one of Putin's close associates.

From the time of privatization until 2003, Surgutneftegaz sold oil through Kineks, one of whose owners was Timchenko. When Timchenko left his partners and opened a new company - Gunvor, Surgutneftegaz began to sell its products through it.

Gennady Timchenko himself denies having a large stake in Surgutneftegaz, and a spokesman for the businessman told the Financial Times that he owns less than 0.01% of the company's shares.

Arctic Sunrise activists are no longer pirates

The Guardian's Moscow correspondent writes that investigators have reclassified the criminal case against the crew of the Arctic Sunrise from piracy to hooliganism. Now 28 activists and two journalists who were detained in the Barents Sea a month ago face up to seven years in prison. The maximum term under the article "piracy" is 15 years, recalls Sean Walker.

I'm slowly dying in my cell Alexandra Harris, Greenpeace activist

On September 8, four Greenpeace activists tried to climb onto the Prirazlomnaya oil platform of the Gazprom Neft Shelf company to protest against oil production in the Arctic. A few hours later, Russian border guards seized the ship carrying the ecologists and took the ship to the port of Murmansk, where everyone on board was arrested.

"They are not pirates, but they are not hooligans either," Vladimir Chuprov, a spokesman for Greenpeace Russia, quoted the Guardian as saying.

Among the detainees - six Britons. The Guardian has read the text of a letter written by 27-year-old Alexandra Harris to her parents. "I am slowly dying in my cell," she writes.

Alexandra's father Cliff Harris commented on the reclassification of the allegations: "At first I was relieved that this is a less serious article, but it is still too early to draw any conclusions. Nevertheless, I believe that this is a step in the right direction."

It is rather difficult to explain why the "piracy" article was used against them, because it is clear to everyone that the activists did not want to seize Prirazlomnaya. Quite often, discussions at court hearings in Murmansk turned into absurdity when the parties tried to understand the question: "Can the Prirazlomnaya platform be called a vessel or not?" Indeed, without the presence of a vessel, the article on piracy becomes irrelevant.

According to Russian legislation, the concept of "hooliganism" is also quite extensive. The Guardian correspondent recalls that members of the punk band Pusy Riot were found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" and imprisoned for two years.

Greenpeace says it will not leave its activists in trouble and will fight to the last.

Obama should stop angering Merkel

The Guardian's front page features German Chancellor Angela Merkel talking on her cell phone and the headline: "Merkel Calling Obama - Are You Listening to My Phone Calls?"

But there is nothing more humiliating than when the head of an allied state calls you and demands to know why mobile phone are eavesdropping. It's times like this that the President of the United States should think about the fact that losing friends is not profitable for anyone The Guardian

On Wednesday evening, Merkel called the US President and demanded clarification from him in connection with the information that the US intelligence agencies tapped her mobile phone.

Merkel is the latest heroine of the diplomatic scandal that hit the White House after the publication of documents handed over by Edward Snowden. It follows from them that the special services are watching not only the enemies, but also, as it has now become known, their partners.

Guardian correspondent Julian Borger wonders what it means to be a US ally?

Many US allies have criticized the actions of US intelligence agencies, and each new batch of revelations spoils the US image on the world stage.

At the summit level, writes the Guardian, heads of state are trying to find solutions to problems in face-to-face conversations. Now that, under President Obama, the United States has acknowledged that it cannot act alone on the world stage, relationships between the leaders of the world's most powerful nations are becoming increasingly important.

A good example of this is the constant debate around the Syrian issue in the UN.

But there is nothing more humiliating than having an ally head of state call you and demand an explanation as to why his cell phone is being tapped, writes Borger. It is at such moments that the President of the United States should think about the fact that losing friends is not beneficial to anyone. He must also answer the question himself, who is your ally in the 21st century?

The heir to the throne didn't even utter a peep

He appeared smiling, left the hall smiling and smiled throughout the ceremony, as befits a true Daily Mail monarch.

Of course, the main topic of British newspapers is the baptism of Prince George, which took place on Wednesday at the Royal Chapel of St. James's Palace.

The Daily Mail tabloid writes that this was only the second public appearance of the son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who was born on July 22.

The heir to the throne coped with his task simply brilliantly, the publication claims. He observed royal etiquette in everything.

Prince George was wearing a lace baptismal gown, exactly the same as the robe of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, christened in 1841.

A representative of the royal family, who was present at the ceremony, said that the future king "never even uttered a peep."

"He appeared smiling, left the hall smiling and smiled throughout the ceremony, as befits a real monarch," the source told the Daily Mail.

George's father, Prince William, admitted after the ceremony that this was the first time the baby had been so calm all day.

Review prepared by Andrey Kravets, bbcrussian.com

© Vedomosti, 01/10/2007

Ekaterina Derbilova

Surgutneftegaz on New Year's Eve reported on the deal - perhaps the largest in the history of Russia. He sold Leasing Production LLC, the holding's former parent company, which previously owned 37% of its shares. The further fate of this package, which is now worth more than $20 billion, is unknown. Experts are wondering who got it and why Surgut started this deal - to protect against a hostile takeover or as part of pre-sale preparation.

Surgutneftegaz is the fourth largest oil company in Russia, in 2006 it produced 65.5 million tons of oil. Revenue for the nine months of 2006 - 389.8 billion rubles, net profit - 74.2 billion rubles, capitalization - $57.9 billion.

On December 29, the company announced that since December 22 Surgutneftegaz does not own shares in Leasing Production LLC. On the eve of the transaction, he bought out from LLC 87.2% of the shares of Lennefteprodukt, which owns a network of filling stations in the Leningrad region. And on December 28, Leasing Production and its 100% subsidiary, InvestContract Ltd, disappeared from the list of Surgutneftegaz affiliates. Representatives of Surgutneftegaz declined to comment on the deal, and a request sent to the general director of Surgut, Vladimir Bogdanov, remained unanswered.

"Leasing production" was the main secret of "Surgutneftegaz". Surgut does not disclose its shareholders, and experts tried to discern behind the mysterious LLC one Bogdanov, the other one of Vladimir Putin's friends. It was created at the end of 2003 - NK Surgutneftegaz, the former parent company of the holding, was transformed into it. Until mid-2002, she was listed in the reports of OAO Surgutneftegaz as the owner of 36.7% of its shares - while she herself was 99% owned by OAO. Then the owners of the controlling stake in Surgut hid behind four nominal holders. The last time “Surgutneftegaz” disclosed information about the owners was at the beginning of 2003 - then the NPF “Surgutneftegaz” owned 8.1% of the shares. According to the company's latest report as of September 30, 2006, 6.9% of its charter capital was nominally held by ING Bank (Eurasia) and 0.3781% (0.4544% of voting shares) belonged to managers.

According to calculations by Hermitage Capital Management, published in 2004, about 62% of the shares belonged to the seven subsidiaries of Surgutneftegaz. At the same time, the largest stake - 42.1% of voting shares (36.77% of the authorized capital) - was owned by Leasing Production, 93% owned by Surgut. Based on yesterday's quotes, this package was worth more than $20 billion.

This deal has raised more questions than answers, says Aton's head of analytics Steven Dashevsky. For example, it is not clear whether there are Surgut shares on the balance sheet of the LLC or its structures.

Vladimir Bogdanov launched a punitive operation at Surgutneftegaz

All quarterly reports provided by Surgutneftegaz to the Federal Financial Markets Service indicated that Leasing Production did not own its shares, Deutsche UFG writes in a special review, but the shares of the oil company could be on the balance sheets of Leasing Production subsidiaries, and such information was not required to be disclosed.

There is no answer to the question whether LLC was sold to a third-party buyer or remained with structures close to Surgutneftegaz, Anatoly Yushin, managing partner of AST Legal, continues. Russian laws do not provide an exhaustive concept of affiliation, and the fact that Leasing Production and its subsidiary disappeared from the list of Surgutneftegaz affiliates does not yet prove a change in the ultimate owner of the LLC, Yushin says. Dashevsky believes that the shares of Surgutneftegaz have not changed their final owner: it is impossible to make a deal for $ 20 billion, which would not be reflected anywhere else.

Perhaps this deal is a step towards the transfer of Surgutneftegaz shares to those persons who actually control the company, Denis Borisov, an analyst at Solida, believes.

Deutsche UFG analysts also admit the opposite option: perhaps Surgutneftegaz is seeking to complicate the corporate structure in order to “hide treasury shares and protect itself from a hostile takeover”. A source familiar with the managers of Surgut says the same thing: “Leasing production” is one of the last threads left in order to unwind the company's ownership structure, he argues, and managers simply “hide” it too. Market participants have been waiting for the takeover of Surgutneftegaz by the state-owned Rosneft for years. Deutsche UFG analysts described a possible takeover scenario in December: Rosneft buys Surgut shares owned by its subsidiaries, and then pays $42.5 billion in dividends (about $15 billion in Surgut’s savings and the money that they receive “ daughters” from the sale of his shares). But yesterday a representative of Rosneft told Vedomosti that his company did not buy OOO Leasing Production.

© Internet-library "Antikompromat"

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SURGUTNEFTEGAZ Group Surgutneftegaz is an oil and gas group that has historically focused on the production of hydrocarbons in the KhMAO. Surgutneftegaz, unlike many oil and gas companies, is not a “product of the collapse” of the global Rosneftegaz in the early 90s. On the contrary, there is continuity in the history of the company: Surgutneftegaz as a separate state enterprise was established back in 1965, in 1991 it became a state production association, and in 1992 an open joint-stock company was formed on its basis, which also received important oil refining assets - Kirishinefteorgsintez, St. oil processing and Surgut gas processing plants, as well as a number of marketing structures. The geography of Surgutneftegaz has practically not changed over all this time: almost all production is in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, processing at the Kirishi refinery. Now the main fields of Surgutneftegaz are still Fedorovskoye, Lyantorskoye, Zapadno-Surgutskoye. At the same time, oil production at the old fields of the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug is falling due to high production, and production is becoming more and more complicated. In this regard, the company is refocusing on promising projects - the active development of fields in Eastern Siberia (Yakutia), the key of which are the fields of the Talakan and Alin groups, as well as the search for and commissioning of new fields in Western Siberia such as the Baibakov and Shpilman fields. Surgutneftegaz is the most closed, non-transparent Russian oil and gas company. Here are two facts related to Surgutneftegaz. The owners of the Surgutneftegaz company are unknown. Surprisingly, it's a fact. The parent company of one of the largest oil and gas groups is an open joint stock company, shares are traded on the stock exchange, financial statements are published in accordance with IFRS - however, one can only guess who actually owns Surguneftegaz. The fact is that the ownership structure of companies is confusing, its shares are listed on the balance sheets of subsidiaries and non-profit partnerships, some of the shares are on the balance sheet of the company itself, like treasury ones. Some believe that the permanent head of the company - Vladimir Bogdanov - is in fact the real owner of the company. However, he himself claims that he owns no more than two percent of the shares. And in life, Bogdanov gives the impression not of an owner, but of a responsible manager: a true professional oilman, lives and works in Surgut, where the company's head office is located, does not buy football clubs and Greek islands, as is customary among Russian oligarchs, tries to be as non-public as possible figure. Against this background, there are often rumors that Surgutneftegaz is directly affiliated with the country's leadership, but there is no actual confirmation of this. Surgutneftegaz is a giant piggy bank. It is a fact. Surgutneftegaz is consistently increasing the amount of accumulated funds, recently cash reserve is about $30 billion. At the same time, the company practically does not acquire assets, as its competitors do - the only case, perhaps, is the purchase of a stake in the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL. Foreign expansion failed, after years of trials, Surgutneftegaz had to sell shares. After that, apparently, the mysterious owners of the company became convinced that the management performs two functions well: to extract oil and store the money earned, acquisitions are not his forte.

Who is behind Surgutneftegaz. Surname list

Therefore, the company has few non-core assets - a bank, a pension fund, an insurance company, an airline - and a few other small enterprises outside the oil and gas sector.

During the crisis of 2008, an amazing event was repeated several times - Surgutneftegaz shares on the stock exchange cost less than cash on his balance sheet.

The absolutely non-market behavior of the company in terms of replenishing the “money bag” has no clear explanation, one of the most plausible options is a possible merger of the state-owned Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz, in which Rosneft, together with Surgutneftegaz, will also receive access to the money necessary for further acquisitions.

Considering how quickly events begin to unfold with the arrival of Sechin in Rosneft (transactions on TNK-BP, Itera), it is possible that the intrigue will be resolved in the near future. We will follow developments.

OAO SURGUTNEFTEGAZ is the parent company of Surgutneftegaz.

Companies that are part of Surgutneftegaz by business areas:

Processing of petroleum products, petrochemistry:
KINEF.

Sales of petroleum products:
Novgorodnefteprodukt, Pskovnefteprodukt, Tvernefteprodukt, Kaliningradnefteprodukt, KIRISHIAVTOSERVICE.

Finance, investments:
Surgutneftegazbank, SO Surgutneftegaz.

Provision (service, construction, engineering, IT, design, security, etc.):
Lengiproneftekhim.

Non-core assets, media, social projects:
Surgutfurniture.

News from Surgutneftegaz companies:

"Surgutneftegaz" urgently refuses the dollar. What should an investor do?

Water polo players of KINEF-Surgutneftegaz won the second victory in a row.

Surgutneftegazbank offers to choose your package service size.

X-Com has scaled the infrastructure of workplaces of the Lengiproneftekhim company.

The company "Novgorodnefteprodukt" opened a new modern office on the street. Herman.

The Pskovnefteprodukt LLC team expresses condolences to the families of Anna Levshova, who was killed at a gas station.

"Kaliningradnefteprodukt" filed a lawsuit against a woman who left the gas station with a gun.

In St. Petersburg, the filling station "Kirishiavtoservis" was fined 200 thousand rubles.

Surgutmebel was included in the list of US sanctions.

Vacancies of Surgutneftegaz companies:

in KIRISHIAVTOSERVICE()

to Kaliningradnefteprodukt()

to Novgorodnefteprodukt()

to SURGUTNEFTEGAZ()

Key employees of enterprises
Surgutneftegaz:

Vladimir Bogdanov (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Denis Bashuk(KINEF)

Vyacheslav Chirkov(SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Mikhail Kirilenko (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Vyacheslav Nikiforov (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Natalia Litvinyuk(SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Alexander Rezyapov(SURGUTNEFTEGAS)

Andrey Korol (Surgutneftegazbank)

Sergei Ananiev(SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Vladimir Erokhin(SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Andrey Demyanenko (SO Surgutneftegaz)

Vladimir Bagdanov(SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Konstantin Vysotsky (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Nikolai Kozhevatov (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Kirill Molodtsov(SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Sergei Sobesednikov (Kaliningradnefteprodukt)

Igor Shestakov (Surgutneftegazbank)

Vyacheslav Egorova (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Olga Demina(Surgutneftegazbank)

Valery Tatarchuk (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Leonid Bogdanov (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Yuri Maleshin (Pskovnefteprodukt)

Alexander Bogdanov(SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Alexander Bulanov(SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Elena Sverbuta (SURGUTNEFTEGAZ)

Deposits often mentioned in the news
Surgutneftegaz:

Shpilman(news: 17)

Talakan(15)

Baibakova(7)

Severo-Talakanskoe(5)

West Surgut(5)

Main achievements

He went from a simple driller's assistant to the head of one of the largest oil and gas companies in the country, heading it at the age of 33.

Family

Married (wife Tamara, engineer), has an adopted daughter (Elena). In the personal life of the President "Surgutneftegaz" always distinguished by modesty. He lives in Surgut in an ordinary high-rise building, spends his holidays monotonously - he goes to the village to his parents for haymaking.

I went abroad for the first time on vacation in 1999. in Karlovy Vary, before that he left the country only on business. "The company is saying that Bogdanov's deputies are not very happy with his - and, consequently, with their own - ascetic lifestyle," Forbes wrote several years ago.

Biography

Vladimir Bogdanov was born on May 28, 1951 in the village of Suerka (Uporovsky district in Tyumen region). After school he entered Tyumen Industrial Institute, who graduated in 1973 with a degree in mining engineer for drilling oil and gas wells.

After graduating from the institute, V. Bogdanov worked for the first three years in the Nizhnevartovsk drilling department No. 1, then for another two years - in the Surgut drilling department No. 2 of the Surgutneftegaz association. The young specialist was noticed, and already in 1978. he becomes deputy general director "Yuganskneftegaz".

Since 1980 V. Bogdanov's career is developing more than rapidly: Deputy General Director of Surgutneftegaz, Head of the Drilling Department of Surgutneftegaz Production Association, Deputy Head of the Main Tyumen Production Directorate for Oil and Gas Industry for Drilling of the USSR Ministry of Oil Industry. Finally, he becomes the director of Surgutneftegaz, and has retained his post to this day.

At the same time, the head of Surgutneftegaz began to be actively elected to local and federal authorities: in 1985-1993. he was an MP Tyumen Regional Council of People's Deputies, from 1990 to 1993 - Deputy of the Supreme Council, then - Deputy of the Duma of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO).

In 1990, V. Bogdanov received a second higher education, graduating Academy of National Economy under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (now - RANEPA).

In 1995 V. Bogdanov bought Surgutneftegaz at a loans-for-shares auction according to a rather cunning scheme, according to which the company is still managed. Then the subsidiary - the non-state pension fund "Surgutneftegaz" - bought out the parent.

It turned out that the two companies belong to each other, but formally - to no one, and are actually controlled by managers, namely, V. Bogdanov. Cross ownership is used to this day, which allows V. Bogdanov, who formally owns less than 2% of the shares, to control the entire company. Who is the real owner, no one knows for sure.

The guarantor of NPF Surgutneftegaz at the loans-for-shares auction was then Vladimir Potanin and his "ONEKSIM". As a sign of gratitude, V. Bogdanov kept billion-dollar accounts of his oil company in ONEXIMbank for several years. True, during the crisis of 1998. a billion dollars was "stuck" with the company in this bank, but the head of Surgutneftegaz managed to return it, although not immediately.

At the same time, Surgutneftegaz is not only the most closed and mysterious company in the Russian fuel and energy complex, but also, perhaps, the most honest. "Surgutneftegaz has the highest export earnings. Because "Surgutneftegaz" has never had any dummy structures in the West, as others do, who sell oil to themselves. We have never used transfer schemes," Russian Forbes quotes V. Bogdanov.

Moreover, V. Bogdanov is categorically against benefits and state support. In his opinion, competition should be fair, and the conditions for all companies should be equal. "We have never asked the state for anything, except for normal laws, and we do not intend to ask or bargain for special conditions for ourselves in the future," the head of Surgutneftegaz believes.

Despite all the possibilities, V. Bogdanov remained a patriot of his region and city and did not move to Moscow, for which he received the nickname "Surgut recluse". As a result, Surgutneftegaz is almost the only major oil company in the Russian Federation whose head office is not located in the capital.

In the 90s and 2000s, V. Bogdanov was on the boards of directors of various companies - the same ONEXIMbank, Mosbusinessbank, and even Nafta Moskva, owned by a Dagestan senator Suleiman Kerimov. In the 1990s, Surgutneftegaz exported oil abroad through Kerimov's Nafta, but in the 2000s it switched to cooperation with co-owner structures GunvorGennady Timchenko.

It is noteworthy that from 2009-2011. V. Bogdanov was a member of the Board of Directors of another oil company - NK "Rosneft"(heads Igor Sechin).

"Bogdanov and Sechin have already agreed." The main intrigue of the Russian oil industry was revealed in Ugra

Having sat in it for two years, during the next re-election of directors, he recused himself, citing a possible conflict of interest between Surgutneftegaz and Rosneft.

Since 2008 was also one of the independent directors in "Zarubezhneft". However, the business press then wrote that the Surgut businessman appeared at the meetings infrequently - in a year out of 9 meetings, he participated in only two.

Since 2012 is a member of the commission on strategic development of the fuel and energy complex and environmental safety. The President of the Russian Federation heads the commission Vladimir Putin, and the executive secretary is the head of Rosneft, I. Sechin.

V. Bogdanov - full member Academy of Mining Sciences and Academy of Natural Sciences, doctor economic sciences. He is the author of a number of articles and monographs published in industry and scientific and technical publications and dedicated to improving the management system of the fuel and energy complex of Russia, the efficiency of sustainable development of an oil and gas company, and modern oil production technologies.

For his contribution to the development of the fuel and energy complex, he was awarded a number of state awards, including the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, the Order of Honor, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and others.

Income

V. Bogdanov's main income comes from his activities as the head of Surgutneftegaz. However, its size is difficult to estimate, because due to the non-transparent structure of the company, it is not clear which stake belongs to its CEO, and how he participates in the distribution of profits.

Nevertheless, for several years in a row, the Russian Forbes has consistently assessed the state of V. Bogdanov on average at $3 billion. (plus or minus $200 million).

Rumors

The main question that worries everyone is whether V. Bogdanov is the real owner of Surgutneftegaz or not. The majority is inclined to the version that it is he who controls the company. V. Bogdanov himself traditionally ignores the issue of beneficiaries.

“Bogdanov assured us that everything was going well. In particular, he said that he owns only two percent of the company’s shares, and therefore he has no right to demand disclosure of the ownership structure. True, I must say, he said this with a very telling smile. I don’t think,” said a well-known oppositionist after attending a meeting of shareholders of Surgutneftegaz Alexey Navalny.

According to another version, V. Bogdanov is just a manager, and the real owners and beneficiaries of Surgutneftegaz are some "Petersburg security forces" close to Vladimir Putin.

According to some information, V. Bogdanov is included in Kremlin personnel reserve. Rumors circulated that he was to become energy secretary; according to another version - even the chairman of the government. The head of Surgutneftegaz himself categorically rejects these rumors, arguing that no one has ever made such proposals to him.

In ordinary life, V. Bogdanov is distinguished by modesty on the verge of asceticism. Unlike many other wealthy heads of oil and gas giants, he prefers not to drive an expensive foreign car with a flashing light and escort cars to work, but to walk.

He likes to ride a motorcycle, visiting his parents living in the countryside. Many consider the head of Surgutneftegaz to be somewhat eccentric. So, V. Bogdanov personally and without security can go to the store for bread or easily lie under a broken car.

The head of "Surgutneftegaz" is quite absent-minded: they say that during lunch you can slip anything on him; while reading the newspaper, he will not even notice what he ate - a boiled egg or a lobster. Perhaps that is why he mostly eats at home, since he is not far from the office.

Appearance attaches secondary importance - so, for a long time he went to all kinds of official events in the same suit. When this fact became the subject of jokes from colleagues - "they say, Vladimir Leonidovich is so rich, but he cannot buy a second suit for himself," he acquired several sets. However, the details (such as sometimes stretched socks) indicate that there were no deep shifts in this sense, and the costumes were bought only in order to get rid of the increased attention to one's person.

At the same time, he is constantly immersed in work and thoughts about it: there is a story when, when he was an engineer, he went to the store on a day off, thinking about work, and fainted from overwork and nervous exhaustion. The habit has remained to this day - for example, V. Bogdanov can torture his interlocutor at a social event by discussing production issues.

He does not like to communicate with journalists, and in his entire company the main principle is this: the less they know about Surgutneftegaz, the better.

In business, as in life, he is conservative and socially responsible. He prefers to work at home: a share in the only foreign project - Venezuelan Junin-6- Surgutneftegaz recently sold Rosneft. "The money earned in Russia should work in Russia," V. Bogdanov believes.

At present, Surgutneftegaz has accumulated 1 trillion rub. on their accounts, but is not in a hurry to buy new assets on them or distribute them as dividends. "We have something to spend on: we are developing new provinces. This money is a safety mechanism: no one knows what will happen to oil prices. We need them so that the team can live in peace. If the situation of 1998 again happens, what will we do then ?” V. Bogdanov said at the last meeting of shareholders.

JSC "SURGUTNEFTEGAZ"

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JSC "SURGUTNEFTEGAZ" details: ogn, inn, checkpoint, okopf, okogu, okpo, okato, bank details. Unified State Register of Legal Entities of OJSC "SURGUTNEFTEGAZ"

OGRN: 2747924804647

TIN: 4441741943

Checkpoint: 224365234

OKPO: 84045104

OKATO: 33010864255

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outperformed ExxonMobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, becoming the world's only publicly traded oil company to deliver positive returns to investors following OPEC's November decision to defend its market share and the ensuing price collapse, Bloomberg reported. Over the past 15 months, the dividend yield on the company's papers amounted to 18.5%, the agency calculated, while the shares have fallen 14% since November. Thus, the income of shareholders amounted to a total of 6.4%, taking into account dividends reinvested in securities, the agency indicates. Exxon shares fell 9.4%, but dividend payouts softened the fall to 5.4%. Shell losses were 31%, while the dividend yield was 5.6%, according to Bloomberg data. The rest of the majors are also in the red: Chevron shares have fallen 29% since November 2014, while the dividend yield was 3.75%, Total lost 16.7% of the quotes value, and the dividend income brought investors only 5.8%. Chinese PetroChina lost 47.6% of its share price, while the dividend yield was 2.4%.

Company reserve

Surgutneftegaz only once and unexpectedly for everyone bought in 2009 a 21.2% stake in the Hungarian company MOL, but sold the stake two years later. “I don’t need to buy anything. We have everything!<....>It is worse when there is no money. Then you don’t know where to run, where to borrow, at what percentage,” said Vladimir Bogdanov, CEO of the company, in 2012.

The reason for Surgutneftegaz's success is obvious: the company has huge dollar deposits (more than $30 billion - Vedomosti), says Sergey Vakhrameev, portfolio manager at GL Financial Group. In 2014, Surgutneftegaz earned RUB 846 billion on foreign exchange differences, while IFRS profit tripled to RUB 885 billion. As a result, Surgutneftegaz paid record dividends: 63.2 billion rubles. on preferred and 23 billion rubles. on ordinary shares, reminds Vakhrameev. Dividends on preferred shares increased by 3.5 times, on ordinary shares - by 8%. Other Russian oil companies do not have such an airbag, as a result, they went into the red in terms of share returns, like the world's majors. Lukoil, taking into account dividends, lost 27%, Rosneft - 35%, Gazprom - 44%, Vakhrameev calculated.

Surgutneftegaz is the leader in Russia both in terms of dividend yield and TSR (total shareholder return), says Aton analyst Alexander Kornilov. The dividend yield of Surgutneftegaz prefs since June 2014, when oil prices began to fall, was 37.8%, and TSR - 96%, while for others Russian companies these figures are 4–14.3 and 1.1–53.9%, respectively, he points out.

Bloomberg reveals the owners of 22% of preferred shares of Surgutneftegaz (in total, preferred papers account for 18% of the capital). Among them are Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Blackrock Fund Advisors and others. “But the beneficiaries of the company are unknown, and as an investor, I have a question: how long are shareholders willing to share such dividends with minority shareholders? In the event of a further fall in oil prices and the devaluation of the ruble, the risk of a revision of the dividend policy also grows, ”says Vakhrameev. In addition, the company has already found itself in a situation where dividends ($1.5 billion) exceeded annual cash flow (about $1 billion in 2015), the expert points out. Before the oil price crash, the company was generating $2-3 billion a year, he estimates. But Surgutneftegaz will have no problems with paying dividends: the company can cut investments, withdraw money from deposits, increase debt, the expert lists. On the other hand, if oil prices start to rise, Surgutneftegaz will record a large loss in exchange rate differences, so it's time to sell the company's preferred shares now, advises Andrey Polishchuk, an analyst at Raiffeisenbank.