Oil, Yukos and Sino-Russian Relations
It appears that Vladimir Putin gets what he wants. He wanted to renationalize the oil industry in Russia, and he has effectively done so. And with the help of China no less.
A U.S. bankruptcy court blocked the sell of Yukos to Gazprom, the largest oil producer in Russia, of which the Kremlin owns 36%. So what does the Kremlin do, it auctions off Yugansk, the core component of Yukos to an unheard of company, Baikal Group, which is then sold to the state owned Rosneft. Rosneft, a 100% Kremlin owned business, is now to be merged with Gazprom, and viola, Putin gets what Putin wants. Gazprom will be majority owned by the Kremlin and be the largest oil producer, or nearly, in the world.
To fund Rosneft’s purchase of Yugansk, the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNCP) may loan $6 billion to Rosneft (the Kremlin).
So that leaves the Russian oil industry effectively renationalized (over 50% Kremlin owned) and backed by nationalized Chinese oil. Taken with todays earlier post, it becomes even more concerning.
