But Austrian partner issues contradictory statement; question remain
Officials at state oil and gaz company Naftogaz Ukrainy say theirr company is eager to buy a 50-percent stake in RosUkrEnergo, a natural gas trading firm that generates billions in revenues annually by supplying gas to Ukraine.
Company officials say they have expressed their intention to buy, but the unknown holders of the stake remain silent. To complicate things, an Austrian firm that represents the interests of the beneficiaries denies that an official offer was made by the Ukrainian energy company at all.
Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo was chosen in 2004 to replace Hungarian-registered Eural Trans Gas for the lucrative business of transporting natural gas from Turkmenistan to Ukraine.
RosUkrEnergo is 50-percent owned by Gazprombank, a subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom, and 50-percent owned by Raiffeisen Investment AG, an affiliate of Austria’s Raiffeisen Banking Group. Officials at Raiffeisen have admitted that they represent the interests of another party, but refuse to identify them.
At a press conference on Jan. 17, Naftogaz Ukrainy chairman Oleksiy Ivchenko said his company has expressed its interest in buying half of RosUkrEnergo. No response has been received yet, he said, adding that his company does not know who the beneficiaries of the stake are.
Raiffeisen issued a statement later that day which seemed to contradict Ivchenko’s words.
“Contrary to published reports, there is presently no formal contact between Ukraine’s Naftogaz Ukrainy and Raiffeisen Investment regarding the acquisition of a stake in RosUkrEnergo,” said Wolfgang Putschek, managing director of Raiffeisen Investment AG.
Putschek, who has in interviews with the Post declined to name the beneficiary owners of the 50 percent stake in RosUkrEnergo managed by his company, said that his firm was open to dialogue with Naftogaz, while adding that no official discussions were underway.
“We have no letter from Naftogaz Ukrainy indicating that they are interested in acquiring all or any of the stake in RosUkrEnergo that we manage,” Putschek said.
“We would of course be willing to engage in a discussion on behalf of our clients,” he added.
Shadowy intermediaries
Gazprom and Naftogaz can’t seem to manage the transfer of gas on their own. Early this year, both sides announced they had settled a price dispute that caused reduced gas shipments to Ukraine and Europe by giving RosUkrEnergo, which had earlier handled Turkmen gas supplies to Ukraine, a bigger role.
Now RosUkrEnergo will control the supply of all gas from Russia and Central Asia to Ukraine. Citing a Russian expert, Russia’s business daily Vedomosti estimated that agreement boosts RosUkrEnergo’s value from about $3 billion up to $7 billion.
Additionally, Naftogaz officials have said that they plan on setting up a joint venture with RosUkrEnergo within a month to help handle gas shipments.
The role and need of such intermediaries remains unclear but their usage has been sharply criticized by many, including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who have alleged the deal is linked with organized crime figures who are acting as parasites in the gas sector, sucking up billions of dollars in revenues which could otherwise belong to Gazprom and Naftogaz.
It remains unclear who controls the 50 percent stake in RosUkrEnergo which is managed by Raiffeisen. Vedomosti quoted Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev earlier this week as saying that Ukrainian interests are behind the 50 percent stake managed by Raiffeisen. Ukrainian top officials, including Ivchenko and President Viktor Yushchenko, have denied this.
Other political forces have joined Tymoshenko in calling for the gas agreement, which also nearly doubled the price for gas supplied to Ukraine, to be cancelled through court litigation or parliamentary intervention.
Moreover, 250 deputies in Ukraine’s 450-seat legislature voted to oust the government of Yuriy Yekhanurov largely in response to the signing of the controversial gas agreement. Industry lobbyists in Ukraine’s parliament have in recent days sharply criticized the gas price hikes envisioned in the Jan. 4 agreement, alleging the higher prices will slow economic growth.
International credit rating agency Fitch added to the criticism by downgrading Naftogaz’s outlook from stable to negative.In a Jan. 16 statement, Fitch explained that several factors contribute to its downgrading of Naftogaz including the increase in prices of natural gas from Turkmenistan, and other consequences linked to the recent gas agreement with Gazprom.
