Gazprom shareholders. Whose pocket is Gazprom's money dripping into? Who is the owner? What is ADR

The light jet aircraft Beechjet 400A, tail number ES-NXT, worth about $ 7 million with a blue stripe along the fuselage and tail, did not look like an outsider at the business aviation exhibition in Vnukovo-3 in the fall of 2014. It has just been upgraded by the American Nextant Aerospace for an unknown owner from Russia. Light beige swivel chairs at large windows, wide tables and a sofa in the cabin - everything for a comfortable flight of eight people with a maximum speed of 833 km per hour. This compact but comfortable aircraft was registered in Estonia and operated by the Estonian company FortAero.

The cabin of the aircraft Beechjet 400A

FortAero acknowledges on its website that it does its best for high-profile clients, "including international CEOs and leading government officials, as well as their partners and families." And he notes how convenient and profitable it is to register aircraft in Estonia - low taxes, liberal political environment ...

The liberal environment has a nuance. Data on licenses for onboard radio stations of business jets are publicly available in the Estonian Commercial Register. And the owners of the aircraft are mentioned there.

Novaya Gazeta found out that the license for the radio station of the aircraft Beechjet 400A, tail number ES-NXT, had been valid since 2014 and was extended until the beginning of 2017. All this time, the plane was owned by the offshore company Firmon Overseas Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Extract from the Estonian business register of the aviation radio station installed on the Beechjet 400A aircraft, reg. ES-NXT number indicating that the plane belongs to Firmon

This firm was mentioned in the report on the co-owners of Bank Russia by an acquaintance of the Russian president, Yuri Kovalchuk. According to the bank's documents, Firmon Overseas was fully controlled by St. Petersburg resident Ivan Mironov, the half-brother of Gazprom's board member Kirill Seleznev (earlier Seleznev confirmed his relationship to the Vedomosti newspaper).

We decided to find out where the company of the Gazprom top manager's brother got a business jet worth about $ 7 million? And what other relatives and partners of the Gazprom bosses own.

Gas distribution history

Novaya Gazeta reported about Ivan Mironov in 2014, when he, together with his friend, Tatyana Svitova, received a total of 11.7% of the shares of Bank Russia from a subsidiary of Gazprom Mezhregiongaz, which is headed by Seleznev. At the time, Gazprom said that they had sold non-core assets. And "Novaya" and "Vedomosti" established a connection between the former companies of Mironov with contractors "Gazprom", who received contracts for billions of rubles.

At the same time, Mironov does not give the impression of an oligarch. He worked as deputy director of the St. Petersburg firm Expoforum-International, which manages the Lenexpo exhibition complex, known mainly for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. When Vedomosti asked Mironov about his big business in 2014, he said that he was “far from all this”.

Mironov's acquaintance, Tatyana Svitova, is the daughter of the senior vice president of Bank Russia, Elena Svitova, and the sister of Natalya Svitova, who also had shares in Gazprom's contractors.

As Novaya Gazeta found out, recent partners of the firms of Mironov and Svitovs own stakes in gas distribution organizations of the Gazprom system - gorgaz and raygaz throughout Russia, which transport gas from the main gas pipeline to the end consumer, service in-house gas equipment and design regional gas supply networks ( for more details, see the diagram).

Through Firmon Overseas Holdings, Mironov controlled the offshore CIS Strategic Industries Investment Fund in the Cayman Islands, this was also stated in the Bank of Russia report. The Cayman offshore, in turn, owned the Cypriot Exlaribo. And that one owns the chain of companies that leads to the firm "Epos-Capital". Natalya Svitova owns the firms that also lead to this "Epos" and a couple of other companies - Profkapinvest and Businessprofinvest. The latter had contracts with gas distribution companies of Gazprom for 47 million rubles and, until 2014, had a share in another Gazprom contractor (firm VAG), which received contracts for 4 billion rubles in five years.

Not only Mironov and Svitova owned Epos-Capital, Profkapinvest and Businessprofinvest. The co-owners there were five interconnected companies - Moscow Investment and Financial Group Management. Investments. Development ”(“ MIR Group ”),“ Financial Analytical Center ”,“ Interindustry Bill of Exchange House of the Fuel and Energy Complex ”(VD TEK),“ Investment Partner ”and“ CityTrade ”, which received stakes in more than 30 gas distribution organizations. The total revenue of the 28 organizations they now own has exceeded 40 billion rubles over the past two years. The expert estimates the cost of their shares in Gazprom Gazoraspredelenie Nizhniy Novgorod alone at 6 billion rubles (for more details, see the cut).

At Gazprom, this is Kirill Seleznev's area of \u200b\u200bresponsibility. He heads Gazprom Mezhregiongaz, a 100% Gazprom subsidiary, which sells gas in Russia: provides supplies to all categories of consumers and participates in the gasification of regions. Gas distribution organizations are part of the Gazprom Gazoraspredeleniye structure - subsidiaries and controlled organization Gazprom Mezhregiongaz.

Seleznev is an old colleague and close acquaintance of Gazprom head Alexei Miller for over 15 years (he confirmed this to Vedomosti), they worked together in the port of St. Petersburg and in the Baltic Pipeline System. Seleznev joined Gazprom at the age of 27 as Miller's assistant, deputy head of the board.

In the late 1990s, Seleznev worked in the St. Petersburg MIR Group, which had the same general director as the Moscow group of the same name.

The Moscow MIR Group has a long-standing relationship with Gazprom. According to Gazprom Gazoraspredeleniye's reports for 2009-2010, this group, together with the Financial Analytical Center, provided it loans for 850 million rubles. And later, in turn, the MIR Group received a loan from Gazprom Gazoraspredeleniya for 1.05 billion rubles and another 253.3 million rubles from Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Nizhny Novgorod.

What is the economic sense of these deals, Gazprom has not yet explained.

It was not possible to contact Mironov. Seleznev and "Group MIR" did not answer the questions of "Novaya".

History with patriots

Five companies that hold stakes in Gazprom's gas distribution organizations (Financial Analytical Center, Ustyuggaz, Cititrade, Investment Partner and VD TEK) are related to each other and to the Moscow Investment and Financial Group Management ... Investments. Development "(" Group MIR "), which appeared in 2007.

The office of this group is located in the center of Moscow in Arkhangelsky lane, building 3, building 1. But the roots of the MIR Group go back to St. Petersburg. Since 1994, there has been a group of the same name, now liquidated. It was connected with the Moscow one by the general director and co-owner of the management company - Interindustry Bill of Exchange House of the Fuel and Energy Complex (VD TEK), which is located in the same office in Arkhangelsky Pereulok.

The Moscow "Group MIR" is now owned by entrepreneurs with extensive connections in the church environment. The lion's share belongs to "VD TEK" Sergei Rudov. He is a member of the boards of trustees of large monasteries, as well as the Moscow Theological Academy, is a member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the chairman of the charitable foundation "Society of Friends of the Vatopedi Monastery on Holy Mount Athos."

Rudov was a co-organizer of the delivery to Russia of the Belt of the Virgin in 2011 and the Gifts of the Magi in 2014, which were demonstrated at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. He is also a co-chairman of the board of trustees of the Russian Practical Shooting Federation.

The co-owners of Gazprom enterprises have other interesting intersections. The sole owner and CEO of CityTrade, Alexey Puchkin, not only controls the Ust-Luga Multimodal Complex in the port, which was connected with partners and acquaintances of the former head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin. But he also heads firms (for example, "Agrostyle") that deal with land plots. Half of Agrostayl belongs to the companies of the Rota group of former State Duma deputy Dmitry Sablin. Sablin is the first deputy chairman of the "Combat Brotherhood" public organization and co-chairman of the Anti-Maidan movement, which was created in 2015, as it was announced, with the aim of opposing the "fifth column" and "color revolutions" in Russia.

Rudov, VD TEK and Puchkin did not answer the questions of Novaya Gazeta.

Real estate history

Andrey Kruglov, deputy chairman of the board of Gazprom, became the owner of the companies that deal with Moscow real estate and are associated with the financial and industrial corporation Garant-Invest by Alexey Panfilov.

At the beginning of 2017, Kruglov received a 20% stake in Hey. Pi. Trust Ko ", and in the summer - half of the firm" Proletarskiy-B ". All of them are associated with Garant-Invest, which has several shopping and business centers in Moscow - TDK Tulsky on Serpukhovskaya Zastava Square, the Aeroport shopping gallery near the metro station of the same name, shopping centers Kolomensky, Moskvorechye, Retail Park ”and“ Prague Castle ”. The group also includes the Garant-invest bank. Alexey Panfilov and his father Yuri are also co-owners of “Hey. Pi. Trust Co. ".

The minority co-owners of the bank and Garant-Invest are Irina Biryukova and Ekaterina Biryukova. The first is called the daughter of the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Housing and Utilities, Pyotr Biryukov. Among the bank's minority shareholders is also the former manager of the Moscow mayor's office Viktor Korobchenko.

Before Kruglov got 20% in “Hey. Pi. Trust Co ”, this company had stakes in firms that owned TDK“ Tulskiy ”, as well as the retail chain“ My Shop ”and other assets of“ Garant-Invest ”. Cyprus Vetturex, together with Kruglov owning (25.9%) “Hey. Pi. Trust Co "also has a share in the structure of" Garant-Invest ", which is engaged in commercial real estate. And in the Garant-Invest corporation itself, where the Biryukovs were minority owners.

In the biography of Alexei Panfilov, it is said that he, on a voluntary basis, was an adviser to the Deputy Mayor of Moscow Biryukov.

Biryukov's relatives may be associated with contractors who are engaged in the reconstruction of Moscow, as RBC reported. Biryukov is responsible for the municipal economy complex, which implements the plan for the improvement of Moscow streets. RBC established that Biryukov's daughter Irina and Yekaterina Biryukova, the owners of 8.5% of the development company Garant-Invest, were also co-owners of Venta, which leased trucks to city enterprises subordinate to Biryukov.

Novaya Gazeta found out that Irina and Yekaterina Biryukovs owned (15% each) Stroybiznesholding, which owned Gazprom's contractor, Ugreshsky Pipeline Valve Plant. For three years, he received contracts from Gazprom structures for 1.75 billion rubles.

The Ugreshsky plant also supplied its products to Mosgaz and Mosvodokanal, whose boards of directors included Biryukov. Since 2015, the plant has signed contracts with them for 617.7 million rubles.

Kruglov, Garant-Invest and the Moscow mayor's office did not comment on the situation.

Gas safety story

Since April 2017, Gazprom Teplo-energo has been headed by Artur Trinoga, the son of the head of the secretariat of Prime Minister Mikhail Trinoga.

Artur Trinoga, according to SPARK, is a co-owner (25%) of the Center for Contemporary Dentistry on Ostozhenka.

“We offer a wide range of services for treatment, restoration, dental prosthetics, occlusion correction, professional hygiene and aesthetic procedures,” the company's website says.

Together with Trinoga, the center is owned by the head of Gazprom Energoholding Denis Fedorov (he also owns 25%). And their partner is the entrepreneur Andrey Yunakov. By 2010, he had 40% of the dental center, but then his share declined.

In 2010, Yunakov controlled five companies - Private Limited Liability Company Gazokhrana-M, OP Gazokhrana, OP Gazzashita, Private Private Enterprise Krasnodargazbezopasnost and Private Private Security Company Regiongaz-Safety, which subsequently began to provide services to gas distribution enterprises of Gazprom and mezhregiongaz. For five years, they received contracts from Gazprom enterprises for 210 million rubles.

Arthur Trinoga did not answer the questions of Novaya Gazeta.

“Well, they’ve gotten really sick already. Sorry, there are simply no other words ... "- Vladimir Putin could not resist at the meeting of the government commission on the development of the electric power industry in December 2011. Then, on his behalf, it was revealed that the leaders of the energy complex were affiliated with commercial organizations that had signs of a conflict of interest. He noted that there is no violation of the law, but called for attention to the fact that some leaders of the state-controlled energy complex and their relatives are associated with companies that do business in the same area and receive income from energy enterprises run by their relatives.

More than five years have passed since then, and conflicts of interest at the highest level were no longer mentioned.

People close to Gazprom believe that there is no question of a conflict of interest in these cases. And they assure that Gazprom enterprises that transport gas from the main gas pipeline to the end consumer are in most cases far from the most profitable business. They also pay attention to the fact that private investors are not eager to get into it. And some Gazprom enterprises, co-owned by companies associated, for example, with the MIR Group, have ceased to be unprofitable.

“Such excuses are good at the conceptual level, but not at the legal level. There may be signs of a conflict of interest, ”says Ilya Shumanov, Deputy Director General of Transparency International - Russia. - Gas distribution is a separate business that can be unprofitable and profitable. The leaders of Gazprom already have large compensation and remuneration for being present on the boards of directors of numerous Gazprom subsidiaries. If their relatives also intersect with the same sphere, they should pay attention to this and study whether there is a personal interest of top managers there. "

Minority shareholders of Gazprom's enterprises are right when they are worried about this, the expert believes, since the question is natural: does all this affect the financial performance of the gas concern?

Present past

Old Gazprom employees. Heritage

The former Gazprom leadership of the time of Rem Vyakhirev, together with relatives, directly owned shares in companies associated with Gazprom.

“There was no violation here, since the law did not restrict it in any way,” says a person close to the gas concern.

Some of the ties of former top managers and their family members with Gazprom enterprises lasted for quite some time. For example, the former general director of the gas sales company Mezhregiongaz (currently Gazprom Mezhregiongaz) Valentin Nikishin and his family members owned the Quorum-N company. She owned half of the Central Investment Heat and Power Company (CITEK), which had stakes (from 25% to 35%) in at least 16 Mezhregiongaz companies in different Russian cities. And a share in the Management Company Regiongazfinance, which had shares in seven gas distribution organizations of Gazprom, according to SPARK. Nikishin died in a car accident in 2005. CITEK came under the control of his former deputy at Mezhregiongaz Marina Bezrukova and ceased to operate only in March 2017.

CITEK also owned a stake in Gazenergoprombank, which was first transferred to Gazprom's structures, and in 2010 merged with Bank Russia by Yuri Kovalchuk.

The daughter of the former head of Gazprom Rem Vyakhirev - Tatyana Dedikova and the son of the former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin - Vitaly were co-owners of Promek-MG, which until 2003 owned 24% of Resurs-MRG, registered at the Moscow office of Gazprom on Nametkina Street, 16. Resurs-MRG owned shares (from 10% to 80%) in at least 37 Mezhregiongazs throughout Russia, according to SPARK. Agrokhimteks also had its share in Resurs-MRG, where a small share was owned by Nikolay Isakov, deputy general director for relations with government bodies of Gazprom Mezhregiongaz. And also from the firm "Verta-techinvest", which was owned by members of the family of the former deputy general director of "Gazprom Mezhregiongaz" Alexei Veremenko.

The decision to exclude the inactive IWG Resource from the register was made in July 2017.

Help "New"

Shareholder courts

In 2013, by a government decision, Gazprom bought out shares in gas distribution companies from the state-owned Rosneftegaz.

Minority shareholders of some of Gazprom's gas distribution enterprises hoped that they would be sent an offer and that their shares would be bought without fail, as is the case in such transactions. But that did not happen.

“In 2013, we turned to the Bank of Russia, and it issued instructions binding Gazprom,” said Alexander Klimenko, head of the legal department of Miriad Rus, which represented the interests of minority shareholders of Gazprom Gazoraspredeleniya Nizhny Novgorod. - At the same time, we applied to the Federal Property Management Agency, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Energy and the government with a demand to develop and approve a directive obliging Gazprom to comply with the requirements of the law. But our appeals only led to unsubscriptions. "

And in the fall of 2015, the board of directors and the main shareholder of Nizhegorodoblgaz, the Gazprom group, approved an additional issue in the form of a closed subscription in favor of three companies, at that time affiliated with the MIR Group. The issue price is 51 rubles per share, three times lower than the market one, which is confirmed by an independent assessment, Klimenko believes.

“Gazprom's company received, in our opinion, three times less money than it could have received. The share of minority shareholders was more than twofold diluted, ”says Klimenko. In his opinion, there were no economic grounds for the issue: Nizhegorodoblgaz is a profitable organization with free cash on deposits with the bank (2.7 billion rubles at the end of 2015-2016).

“How could it have happened that, thanks to such an issue, Gazprom lost control of Nizhegorodoblgaz (the share dropped from 75% to 32%) and did not receive money for it?” - Klimenko is surprised. In his opinion, this led to losses not only for Gazprom, but also for its shareholders. This also resulted in the cancellation of the instructions obliging Gazprom to send offers to minority shareholders to buy out their shares, since the Gazprom Group's share in the company has dropped to less than 50%. "How else can this be explained if not by an administrative resource?" The lawyer asks.

“We did not estimate the value of all assets related to the listed companies, but the value of the shares in Nizhegorodoblgaz alone, which they received in their ownership, could be about 6 billion rubles,” the expert believes.

People close to Gazprom explained the situation by the fact that the gas concern did not have enough funds to pay both Rosneftegaz and minority shareholders, so a legal way was found to settle this problem.

Subtext

Estonian wings

Estonian FortAero - the operator of the Beechjet 400A (Nextant 400XTI) aircraft with registration number ES-NXT, which was owned by Ivan Mironov's company, has a very interesting history. In 2013, the disbanded, now - national Estonian airline Estonian Air sold its "daughter" - Estonian Air Regional to the little-known FortAero, registered at the end of 2012. The deal surprised the Estonian market as no one understood who was behind it.

Estonian "Delovye Vedomosti" then came out with the headline "Nominee Holders", discovering that the owners of FortAero are three people - Aaron Reichstein, Vadim Opryshko and Lyalya Mikhailova. Reichstein worked in the past in Moscow, in the publishing house "Kommersant", in 2003 he was the director of the newspaper "Gazeta" in St. Petersburg, headed the "Trekhgornaya Manufaktura", and in 2006 - the publishing house "Kommersant Ukraine". In Estonia, his name was associated with two dozen companies, the local press reported that, according to him, he came to Tallinn by accident, having come to visit a friend.

The Estonian company replied that they had nothing to do with the half-brother of the Gazprom board member Ivan Mironov and the Gazprom board member Seleznev.

There is another interesting intersection. Terramart Development, which, according to the Bank of Russia report, was controlled by Mironov, had an Estonian branch (now in liquidation). The branch was managed by Natalia Astashova, who, according to the Estonian register, manages only two companies, including Aviasole Business Aviation, a business aircraft operator. This Aviasole offers customers the Falcon 900LX aircraft. Having contacted the Aviasole manager, Novaya Gazeta found out that they knew about the Beechjet 400A aircraft with registration number ES-NXT and were redirecting about it to FortAero.

Aviasole and Astashova did not answer questions from Novaya Gazeta.

Seleznyov did not comment on the situation.

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Comments of Professor V. Katasonov on Putin's statements at a meeting with journalists

The key event of the last week was the already traditional large press conference of V.V. Putin, which took place on December 19. Many observers and commentators agreed that the most interesting were the questions and answers related to the state and development prospects of our oil and gas industry.

Summary of the conversation about natural resources and oil and gas companies. The topic of the conversation was set by the editor of the Narodnoe Veche, Maria Solovyenko. The journalist suggested that Putin should nationalize natural resources in the country and thus secure himself an "honorary presidency for life." Vladimir Putin did not agree that we need to nationalize privately held stakes in the energy sector, including the owners of shares in Gazprom, LUKOIL and Surgutneftegaz. The President stressed that the natural resources of the country, in accordance with the Constitution, already belong to the people. And changing the Constitution, according to Putin, is dangerous and inexpedient. According to Putin, large private oil and gas companies should not be nationalized, but forced to pay taxes in full. The answers seem to be quite convincing. But this is at first glance. Let me make a few comments.

Commentary No. 1. On Fiscal Liberalism

Recently, the President of the Russian Federation in his speeches has been constantly stressing that everything is permissible for our private business, provided that it pays taxes in full. A few days before the press conference, V. Putin, in his speech to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, said that he was not against the use of offshore companies by Russian companies if they fulfill their tax obligations to the Russian treasury. This kind of position can be called “fiscal liberalism”. The current position of the president is a step backward even compared to what Putin said earlier. I mean his earlier statements about the need to restructure the Russian economy, about the technological modernization of production, about the acceleration of economic growth ("doubling the GDP"), etc. The position of "fiscal liberalism" actually pushes the task of reviving the Russian economy to the tenth plan. the basis of long- and medium-term planning, the creation of import-substituting industries, reindustrialization. In general, it is not clear why in this case we need such departments as the Ministry of Economic Development, Industry, Energy and others. Let's leave only the Ministry of Finance (Treasury) with the tax service subordinate to it. In a number of underdeveloped countries, this is exactly how the executive branch is organized: there the Ministry of Finance (Treasury) is the only economic department, and its main task is not even to maintain the local budget, but to collect colonial tribute in favor of the metropolis. Something similar is happening with us. The Ministry of Finance of Russia, together with the tax service, knock out money from oil and gas companies, a significant part of which is then sent to the so-called "sovereign funds" (Reserve Fund, National Wealth Fund), and they place their foreign currency assets in US Treasury securities.

Commentary No. 2. On Gazprom and its "liquidity"

I would like to draw your attention to the following obscure phrase of the President of the Russian Federation: “Our task is not to take everything away from private owners. If we gave shareholders the opportunity to buy and sell Gazprom shares, this increases liquidity. If this option is removed, then the company will not receive the necessary loans. So we will worsen the state of the entire industry. "

In fact, private shareholders have been given the opportunity to sell and buy shares (not only of Gazprom, but also of our other oil and gas companies) not in order to increase some mysterious “liquidity”, but so that they can buy the sale of "weld money". If we talk about Gazprom, then first of all it is necessary for that part of the shareholders whose composition is not disclosed in the corporation's reports. These are Russian officials, heads of Gazprom, and other "necessary" people. They have access to inside information and know when to sell and when to buy. From this it becomes clear why for Gazprom and our other oil and gas giants the fashionable indicator of the company's “market capitalization” that came from the West begins to gain more importance than, say, traditional production indicators - production volume, labor productivity, reserves, etc. or a decrease in Gazprom's “market capitalization” may occur without any changes in gas production and consumption. The people from these market fluctuations are literally not hot and not cold. But those who have a “piece” of Gazprom are more than anything else concerned about one question: what are the quotes of the corporation's shares?

An analysis of Gazprom's financial statements shows that the corporation could do without loans at all. And if they steal less in Gazprom, then the corporation itself could act as a creditor or become the country's main budgetary “donor”. By the way, we can cite as an example the self-sufficient company Surguteneftegaz. This is a fairly closed, non-public company with excess cash "liquidity". As for Gazprom, it receives a significant part of its loans and borrowings from its affiliated structures and subsidiaries. "The right" people are also good at "weld" on these operations.

Commentary No. 3. Gazprom and the oligarchs

It refers to the following phrase of Putin: “About Gazprom. That he belongs to a bunch of oligarchs is not true. Gazprom is a state-owned company with a controlling stake in the Russian state. Indeed, there was a moment when 7-8 years ago the controlling stake in Gazprom floated out of the hands of the state. Then there was a real threat of losing control over the backbone company. "

One can agree with the last phrase that Gazprom is a backbone company. In other words, it is a company on which many other sectors of the economy depend, as well as tens of millions of our fellow citizens. First, in terms of natural gas supplies. Secondly, in terms of replenishing the country's budget. It could also be called an infrastructure or strategically significant company. Formally, the president is right that Gazprom is a state-owned company with a controlling stake in the Russian state. " According to the data on the composition of Gazprom's shareholders posted on the website of this corporation, as of December 31, 2012, the state owned 50.002% of the shares (Federal Agency for State Property Management - 38.373%; OJSC Rosneftegaz - 10.74%; OJSC Rosgazifikatsiya - 0.889%).

For reference: the largest non-state shareholder of Gazprom is the American bank The Bank of New York Mellon, which owns 26.955% of the shares. The specified bank is the issuer of American IOUs (ADRs), which were placed among various investors on the US market under the shares of Gazprom. Thus, The Bank of New York Mellon acts as an intermediary between various American investors and Gazprom. Currently, more than 400 investors from 40 countries of the world act as holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADR). The main share of investors in ADRs is US and UK funds, which account for 45% and 20%, respectively, of Gazprom's total ADRs.

According to official data, the “other shareholders” of Gazprom accounted for 23.043%. The composition of other shareholders on the site is not deciphered, but it is known from other sources that among them are legal entities and individuals of the Russian Federation. Russian legislation does not formally allow non-residents to acquire shares of the gas monopoly on the Russian stock market, but there are many holes in it that allow non-residents to use “gray” schemes to buy shares in Gazprom. There are also individuals, representatives of the state bureaucracy. Until 2005 inclusively, Gazprom provided the total figure for individuals in the Russian Federation. So in 2005 their share in the total number of shares was 13.068%. Information about specific individuals is very incomplete and fragmentary. Formally, all individuals have Russian citizenship.

I don’t know why there cannot be oligarchs or legal entities controlled by oligarchs among “other shareholders”? There have been many publications in the press that describe various “gray” schemes for participation in the equity capital of both Russian and foreign investors. Suffice it to recall the sensational story of the Hermitage Capital investment fund founded by British oligarch William Browder, which in the late 1990s and early 2000s bought several percent of Gazprom's shares on the domestic stock market in circumvention of Russian legislation. In 2002, William Browder secured the votes of a number of minority shareholders of Gazprom (only about 3% of the shares) and tried to get into the company's board of directors. As a minority shareholder, Browder nevertheless strove to "put things in order" in Gazprom. Judging by the fact that the position of the “other shareholders” is not deciphered by Gazprom, there is a suspicion that well-known oligarchs and officials are hiding behind it. Unlike William Browder, they behave modestly, do not make a noise.

Commentary No. 4. On Gazprom and the Asian way of production

The fact that Gazprom formally has a controlling stake in the state does not at all contradict the fact that "it belongs to a bunch of oligarchs." De facto, Gazprom has long been privatized, because the state has been privatized in Russia. Gazprom is a shining example of such a socio-economic model that existed thousands of years ago. The classic of Marxism called it the "Asian mode of production" (ASP).

The essence of the TSA is that, formally, the state does not have private ownership of natural resources and means of production, everything is in the hands of the state. The state acts as the aggregate exploiter, wealth is created by the mass of the common population, which is in slave or semi-feudal dependence on the state, and the results of labor (wealth) go to a narrow handful of the ruling class. In short, the TSA is a slave system without private slavery; the state acts as the aggregate slave owner. The TSA is characterized by the absolute power of the state bureaucracy (eastern despotism), which receives the wealth it creates. The TSA developed primarily in those eastern despotisms, where there was a need for the implementation of large projects with the participation of tens of thousands of workers. Today we would call them infrastructure projects. In those days, when agriculture was the main branch of the economy, these were primarily irrigation projects - the construction of dams, digging of canals, the creation of reservoirs and the maintenance of hydraulic structures.

Gazprom is a closed structure controlled by a narrow group of the Russian bureaucracy, primarily for the purpose of personal enrichment. Sometimes in our media the figures of salaries and bonuses of Gazprom's top managers slip through. They are at the level of incomes of top managers of leading private oil and gas companies in the West - several million dollars a year. In addition, Gazprom executives hold shares in their corporation and receive dividends. By the way, they buy shares on the basis of the so-called options, that is, at discounted prices. But all this is only the visible, upper part of the "iceberg". Many people close to the highest Russian bureaucracy do not receive much more serious sums not directly from Gazprom, but through various structures that are affiliated with this corporation and have occasional or regular economic relations with it. In fact, we are talking about large-scale corruption. In other words, the “beneficiaries” of Gazprom are not only the oligarchs who directly or indirectly own the shares of this corporation, but also other representatives of our elite of kleptomaniacs.

Today, in the media and economic literature, the topic of the so-called "public-private partnership" has become extremely fashionable. So, it has been noticed that corruption reaches the greatest scale not in “purely state” and not in “purely private” companies, but in companies with “mixed”, public-private ownership. This is exactly the category Gazprom belongs to.

Commentary No. 5. On the privatization of Gazprom and the "equalization of economic conditions"

Vladimir Putin admitted the possibility of privatizing Gazprom. “It is possible to move towards privatization only when certain conditions connected with the consumption of primary energy resources, economic conditions in the first place, are aligned,” he said. By the way, earlier, Putin has repeatedly hinted at the possibility of privatizing our gas monopoly. And by “leveling the playing field,” he means an increase in domestic prices for natural gas - both for companies in different industries and for the population. According to Gazprom, the level of gasification of households in Russia in 2012 was 64.4%, including in cities - 70.1%, in rural areas - 53.1%. For many companies and households, even today's domestic prices are prohibitive. Utilities' debts to Gazprom have been accumulating for several years. According to the head of the board of directors of "Gazprom" Viktor Zubkov, in the last (2012) year alone, the debt of Russian consumers for gas increased by 47%, to 143 billion rubles (about 4.5 billion dollars). It turns out that accounts receivable in relation to revenue amounted to 19.3%. The housing and utilities sector accounts for about a third of the debt. Last year, prices in the domestic market were about $ 100 per 1000 cubic meters (average value, there is significant differentiation across regions), and in the foreign market - $ 400. That is, domestic prices still average 25% in relation to external ones. Strictly speaking, prices don't have to be literally the same. They should provide “equal profitability of transactions” and be calculated using special formulas. In fact, the internal price should be about 40% of the external price in the European market. That is, Putin is giving a hint that Gazprom will still "squeeze" us in accordance with the recommendations of the IMF and WTO. As a means of "squeezing", Gazprom began to practice "blackouts" more and more often. I am afraid that not everyone will live to see the "happy" moment when natural gas prices in Russia will correspond to the world level.

We guessed for a long time that Gazprom was a "de facto" private company. Now let's see what Gazprom is "de jure" ...
Info taken from the official Gazprom website http://www.gazprom.ru/investors/stock/
Here's what happens:
Out of a hundred percent of Gazprom shares are owned by private owners without a doubt:
25.6% - other persons (it is clear who - private traders)
23.4%. - the owners of American Depositary Receipts (ADR) of Gazprom, traded on the US stock exchanges (presumably - private traders). ADRs are shares of non-state companies that are held and traded by state banks.
Belongs to private traders under "doubt":
10.7% of Gazprom shares owned by OJSC Rosneftegaz (yaplakal, OJSC Rosneftegaz is registered in the Tver region in a village with the symbolic name BIG LETTERS (oh, and Satanists love symbolism), the main type of activity (but you didn’t guess, not oil and not gas, but), "securities management activities." You can check here http://www.skrin.ru/issuers/RABPT/
Now, taking into account the fact that 50% + 1 share, Gazprom shares, in order for it to be considered a state company, must be in the hands of the state (including the owner of Gazprom shares, OJSC Rosneftegaz, in which a controlling stake (I note not 51% , and not even 50% + 1 share, but a controlling stake, which can be 30 and 25 or even 20%) must be owned by the state.) everything is FORMALLY observed. (38.373% of Rosimushchestvo shares + 10.740% of Rosneftegaz shares + 0.889 shares of Rosgazifikatsiya) But not all. Because if in OJSC Rosneftegaz (with Rosgazification the same situation) the state owns a controlling stake of (say) 30% and this stake is IN THE ACTUAL control, then Rosneftegaz is EVERYTHING AS A PRIVATE COMPANY, since 70% of it is in private hands. Ferstein? I have not seen the composition of Rosneftegaz shareholders, because he is not disclosed, but he is ready to give a hand in cutting off if the size of the state's controlling stake in Rosneftegaz suddenly turns out to be more than 49%, i.e. at least 51% of Rosneftegaz is in the hands of private individuals and therefore, de facto, it is a private company.
Now let's summarize:
Private traders and private owners of Gazprom's American Depositary Receipts for a couple, own 49% of Gazprom's shares, plus, formally private with a controlling stake in the ownership of the state, OJSC Rosneftegaz (from Bolshiye Peremerki, Tver Oblast Ha-Ha-Ha !, engaged in depository activities ("box crap ") owns another 10.7%, plus bribed or lobbied interests of private owners (who doubts it?) in Rosimushchestvo, which owns 38.37% of Gazprom's shares.
Now, after this brief review, I am completely “convinced” that Gazprom-Super-duper is a “state-owned company” ... In addition, in the new June charter of Gazprom, which can be viewed on the above-mentioned official website of Gazprom, there is no mention of the mandatory share of the state at all and / or at least a mandatory controlling stake, which must be owned by the state in OJSCs holding Gazprom shares.
So let the authorities not punch the people's brains with fables that "What is good for Gazprom is good for Russia" ... Gazprom is a private company whose interests are few, if not somehow, connected with the interests of the people. Manipulators rule!

Who owns Gazprom

The unfolding battles over gas prices for the junta made me think once again to remind everyone of the long-known truth - to whom and how much the giant of our energy production industry, GAZPROM, belongs to and how much.

According to completely open data, the "state" owns only 50% of the shares (+1 vote). I put the word state in quotation marks because it's a little gimmick to sweeten the pill. In reality, the state itself, represented by its state agency Rosimushchestvo, owns not 50, but only 38.37% of the giant's shares, the rest are divided between Rosneftegaz (10.74%) and Rosgazifikatsiya (0.89%).

What does this mean? Exactly that President Putin can bark harshly: "Sha! Do as I said!" only 38%. Agree, this is a somewhat different calico in the command-and-control system of corporate governance. By the way, the profit from the sale of gas is also distributed - you and I get only 38% of the gas produced by GAZPROM, because the contents of our bowels, having passed through the pipe to the surface, are somehow transformed and begin to belong to the technicians who stuck this pipe. As if a neighbor, putting a pump on a well in your yard, sold water to everyone (well, to you as well), paying you a tax on this action. But I digress, let us return to GAZPROM, having specified that even 38% of the produced gas still belongs not to you and me, but to GAZPROM itself, we only own a share in the profit.

There is also Rosneftegaz, 100% owned by Rosiimushchestvo, which was created as a “temporary storage facility” for Rosneft and Gazprom shares. It was assumed that it would be liquidated as soon as the multibillion-dollar loan received was repaid, but it still exists. What for? And then, so as not to concentrate a controlling stake in one hand. After all, a direct blocking stake should be 50% + 1 share. This is the subtlety - in order to directly block any other decision, 50% +1 should be concentrated in one hand. Otherwise, dances with horses begin.

Why am I all this? Besides the fact that Russia is not authoritarian in its decisions on GAZPROM, ours should agree with the rest of the owners.

Who are these "other owners"? From the graph you can see - this is Bank of NY and some "others".

Well, BoNY is clear in what direction - it disguises itself as the issuer of American Depositary Receipts issued for GAZPROM shares. In order not to puzzle in vain, I will explain - this is a veiled form of transferring state property from the metropolitan colony. Those. 27% were directly transferred to "our American partners", as VVP loves to joke merrily. Why 27? But because from 25 percent there is a "disclosure" of shares, ie. the owner of these 27% can hack to death the decisions made by the Company.

Who else are the shareholders, who are these "others"?

E.ON Ruhrgas AG, Germany's largest natural gas distributor - 6.5%
Deutsche UFG, a hedge fund company 100% owned by Deutsche Bank - over 3%
NAFTA-MOSCOW, a Cyprus company (guess why and by whom it was created) - 5.3%
NAFTA-VOSTOK, the fund, again, it's not even worth explaining who was created - 1.5%
INTECO (yes, Madame Baturina) - 1%
The remaining 5.5% is scattered between the co-workers, t.s. on the milk to your beloved.

So, Russia, or rather our President Putin V.V. (I, in principle, have not separated my president for some time now), I am not in a position to rigidly make an unambiguous decision on certain actions of GAZPROM, but must negotiate with the same who prepares all this garbage with gas supplies - amers, burghers and the first column, which owns assets located outside the Russian jurisdiction, and directly controls the concern.

And now look - Putin is alone in GAZPROM. Against him are the shareholders, the authors of the coup in Ukraine, and the managers who are held by the Adam's apple of their assets by the same shareholders.

The unfolding battles over gas prices for the junta made me think once again to remind everyone of the long-known truth - to whom and how much the giant of our energy production industry, GAZPROM, belongs to and how much.

According to completely open data, the "state" owns only 50% of the shares (+1 vote). I put the word state in quotation marks because it's a little gimmick to sweeten the pill. In reality, the state itself, represented by its state agency Rosimushchestvo, owns not 50, but only 38.37% of the giant's shares, the rest are divided between Rosneftegaz (10.74%) and Rosgazifikatsiya (0.89%).

What does this mean? Exactly that President Putin can bark harshly: "Sha! Do as I said!" only 38%. Agree, this is a somewhat different calico in the command-and-control system of corporate governance. By the way, the profit from the sale of gas is also distributed - you and I get only 38% of the gas produced by GAZPROM, because the contents of our bowels, having passed through the pipe to the surface, are somehow transformed and begin to belong to the technicians who stuck this pipe. As if a neighbor, putting a pump on a well in your yard, sold water to everyone (well, to you as well), paying you a tax on this action. But I digress, let us return to GAZPROM, having specified that even 38% of the produced gas still belongs not to you and me, but to GAZPROM itself, we only own a share in the profit.

There is also Rosneftegaz, 100% owned by Rosiimushchestvo, which was created as a “temporary storage facility” for Rosneft and Gazprom shares. It was assumed that it would be liquidated as soon as the multibillion-dollar loan received was repaid, but it still exists. What for? And then, so as not to concentrate a controlling stake in one hand. After all, a direct blocking stake should be 50% + 1 share. This is the subtlety - in order to directly block any other decision, 50% +1 should be concentrated in one hand. Otherwise, dances with horses begin.

Why am I all this? Besides the fact that Russia is not authoritarian in its decisions on GAZPROM, ours should agree with the rest of the owners.

Who are these "other owners"? From the graph you can see - this is Bank of NY and some "others".

Well, BoNY is clear in what direction - it disguises itself as the issuer of American Depositary Receipts issued for GAZPROM shares. In order not to puzzle in vain, I will explain - this is a veiled form of transferring state property from the metropolitan colony. Those. 27% were directly transferred to "our American partners", as VVP loves to joke merrily. Why 27? But because from 25 percent there is a "disclosure" of shares, ie. the owner of these 27% can hack to death the decisions made by the Company.

Who else are the shareholders, who are these "others"?

E.ON Ruhrgas AG, Germany's largest natural gas distributor - 6.5%
Deutsche UFG, a hedge fund company 100% owned by Deutsche Bank - over 3%
NAFTA-MOSCOW, a Cyprus company (guess why and by whom it was created) - 5.3%
NAFTA-VOSTOK, the fund, again, it's not even worth explaining who was created - 1.5%
INTECO (yes, Madame Baturina) - 1%
The remaining 5.5% is scattered between the co-workers, t.s. on the milk to your beloved.

So, Russia, or rather our President Putin V.V. (I, in principle, have not separated my president for some time now), I am not in a position to rigidly make an unambiguous decision on certain actions of GAZPROM, but must negotiate with the same who prepares all this garbage with gas supplies - amers, burghers and the first column, which owns assets located outside the Russian jurisdiction, and directly controls the concern.

And now look - Putin is alone in GAZPROM. Against him are the shareholders, the authors of the coup in Ukraine, and the managers who are held by the Adam's apple of their assets by the same shareholders.