However, the company's net profit in the third quarter of 2007 grew by 26.6%, compared to the previous quarter, to 2.23 billion rubles (some $90 million). The company explained this as being partly due to shifts in the Russian ruble to U.S. dollar exchange rate.
RussNeft is in the process of being sold to Basic Element, controlled by Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, but the deal has not yet been concluded as it has still to be authorized by Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), a Basic Element spokesman said. The deal has been estimated as being worth $6.5-7 billion.
Basic Element asked the FAS for permission to purchase the oil producer in late August, and this was followed in September by an application from Swiss-based Glencore Holding for the purchase of three RussNeft enterprises.
RussNeft is Russia's seventh-largest oil company, producing around 3% of the nation's total crude output.
The company's former owner, Mikhail Gutseriyev, is currently being sought by Russian authorities on a variety of charges, including tax evasion.
