This week, some media outlets, referring to the source, reported that the auction for the sale of Yuganskneftegaz would be announced on October 22 and held, therefore, on November 22.
As Vladimir Zelentsov, official spokesman of the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFFI), explained to RIA Novosti previously, the auction is to be held a month after it is announced.
"This may happen on November 22, 25, or 29. It will all depend on when the notification is published," Zelentsov said.
He also said that the sale by closed auction was being considered. Applications for participation may be submitted by all those wishing to do so, while the biddings will be accepted in a closed form - in envelopes. The highest bidder will be named the winner, the RFFI's representative explained.
Zelentsov pledged that the auction for the sale of Yuganskneftegaz would be held with the maximum transparency and publicity, irrespective of the form of the bidding chosen.
Prior to the notification of the sale, government officials decline to talk about the starting price of Yuganskneftegaz.
Previously, the justice ministry announced that Yuganskneftegaz was assessed at $10.4 billion and should be sold at a discount versus this price.
The Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein bank, which conducted the evaluation of Yuganskneftegaz within the framework of an agreement with the Russian justice ministry, assessed Yuganskneftegaz, Yukos' major oil and gas producing company, at $14.7-17.3 billion, with due account for tax claims.
The bank's report says that Yuganskneftegaz is assessed at $14.3 billion in keeping with the scenario of the adjusted independent evaluation of reserves by the end of 2003, which is a conservative evaluation scenario. After the deduction of Yukos' debts amounting to about $2.9 billion and tax claims to Yuganskneftegaz ($951.3 million) taking effect, the company's price may fall to $10.4 billion, the report says.
As regards Yuganskneftegaz as a separate company, the bank assessed it at $18.6-21.1 billion.
The report also points out that "the change of Yuganskneftegaz's status as regards its licences may have a tangible effect on the company's price."
Immediately after the evaluation data was published, a commission of the ministry of natural resources examined the company's compliance with the terms of its licence agreements.
The day before (October 21), the ministry reported that it intended to send a notification to Yuganskneftegaz on a possible earlier termination of its right to mineral resources with regard to three mineral resource areas, and also instructions to eliminate breaches [of the licence agreements] with regard to two mineral resource areas.
Both the notification and instructions will be issued for a six-month term. Over this period, Yuganskneftegaz must rectify the situation, in particular, it must bring the output at three deposits into conformity with the projected figures. At the two other deposits, the company must double the existing well stock.
Previously, the ministry of natural resources instructed Yuganskneftegaz to remove tax violations within three months. According to the tax agencies' data, Yuganskneftegaz' severance tax debts amount to 3.6 billion roubles.
