VILNIUS, November 29 (RIA Novosti, Vladimir Vodo) - The contender for the 53.7% packet of Lithuanian oil refinery Mazeikiu Nafta shares will be named at the end of this week, the Lithuanian prime minister told the country's national radio station Tuesday.
Algirdas Brazauskas said it would be either Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz or Russian-British joint venture TNK-BP.
Until recently, Lithuania gave preference to TNK-BP as a contender for the purchase of the Mazeikiu Nafta stock controlled by Yukos, since TNK-BP met the requirements of the Lithuanian government in terms of ensuring stable and long-term oil deliveries to the Mazeikiu oil refinery.
Brazauskas said earlier that TNK-BP made a lowball offer for the packet [some $1 billion], while KazMunaiGaz said it was ready to pay $1.2 billion, but the Kazakh company could not provide the oil refinery with crude due to unsettled problems with Russian oil company Transneft.
The Mazeikiu Nafta complex comprises the eponymous oil refinery, which has a capacity of 12 million metric tons of oil annually, an oil terminal in Butinge, with a 8-million-ton annual capacity, and an oil pipeline enterprise.
Yukos International U.K. B.V. possesses the operator rights and 53.7% of Mazeikiu Nafta stock, while the Lithuanian government owns 40.66% of Mazeikiu Nafta.
The country's government plans to buy out 53.7% of Mazeikiu Nafta stock from Yukos for $1 billion and then sell the packet to the investor for $1.7-2 billion.
The government wants to sell up to 30% of 40.66% of its shares to the new owner of Mazeikiu Nafta.
Market experts assess the Yukos-held Mazeikiu Nafta packet at $1.5-2 billion.
