Mr. Miller recently announced that Zarubezhneft was likely to be incorporated into Gazpromneft. His motivation was that a preliminary valuation of Rosneft by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) showed that the company's assets were worth less than a 10.7% stake in Gazprom that had been earmarked for the swap. On Wednesday, Zarubezhneft circulated a statement saying that the company's incorporation into Gazprom was a "foregone conclusion."
An Economic Development and Trade Ministry spokesman told this paper that this Zarubezhneft statement pointed to the desire of its president, Nikolai Tokarev, to join in the jockeying for the top position in Gazpromneft. Besides, Mr. Tokarev himself said in the summer that he wanted "to try his hand at the domestic oil production market."
According to another government official, the candidacies of Bogdanchikov and Deputy Gazprom CEO Alexander Ryazanov are under discussion, while Mr. Tokarev is to remain the head of Zarubezhneft, which will be a separate entity within Gazprom.
But company staff confirmed that "the Tokarev candidacy is being seriously considered" and the current Zarubezhneft chief has high chances. In this situation, "Tokarev may benefit from his close acquaintance with Putin," the newspaper's source in Gazprom explained.
