"Returns on the Mosenergo and Unified Energy Systems sale are just fit for the purchase of Yugansneftegaz; Gazprom made a good investment in energy assets and can now afford to buy Yugansk," he said.
Meantime, Gazprom tries to distance itself from the Yuganskneftegaz idea. "It is only if this purchase complies with all international standards that Gazprom will make this move," Mr. Shokhin told newsmen in Sochi hosting the third international economic forum Kuban-2004.
If Gazprom announced such a purchase now, the company's reputation would be undermined, a development that can tell on Gazprom capitalization, said Mr. Shokhin. He thinks another candidate for the purchase is Surgutneftegaz, with its $7 billion spare funds.
However, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller again confirmed yesterday that Gazprom did not plan to buy Yukos assets. "We are not engaged in considering such a deal which is not available either in the budget estimates or in the investment program for 2005," said Mr. Miller.
On agreement with the Russian justice ministry, Dresdner Kleiwort Wasserstein is now busy assessing Yugansneftegaz for its subsequent sale (a leakage into certain media sources indicates the figure of $15-17 billion). No documents concerning the assessment of the company have reached the justice ministry so far.
A source in Dresdner Kleiwort Wasserstein reports that assessment results are expected to be submitted to the justice ministry in the near future.
