Talking to Vedomosti, an official close to a Gazprom director noted that the board of directors might discuss the possibility of bidding at the Yuganskneftegaz auction at a session today. "The session's official agenda does not include this issue, but the company has informed several representatives that it might be discussed," he said. According to him, Gazprom has even suggested "specific solutions" on how to find the necessary money to officials.
The Gazprom board was to have examined the Yuganskneftegaz purchase yesterday with other Deutsche Bank recommendations. This news came from several sources close to Gazprom, but the company declined to comment officially.
Steven Dashevsky, head of the Aton investment company's analytical department, thinks that the Gazprom board will decide to bid at the forthcoming auction. Other officials have obviously approved this decision, so the board is unlikely to speak its mind on the issue, Mr. Dashevsky noted. One official said that the decision to purchase Yuganskneftegaz might be blocked, if it turns out that it could negatively affect Gazprom's core operations.
For its own part, Yukos has decided to save its main asset without waiting for the Gazprom decision. Talking to Vedomosti, Alexander Shadrin, chief of the Yukos press service, noted that the company had already filed a lawsuit demanding that the court-bailiff service's resolution on auctioning off Yuganskneftegaz be declared null and void. Less significant assets should have been put up for sale first, Mr. Shadrin explained.
