Word: russianizing
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...industry executives describe the Yukos crackdown as an isolated event - a Russian oligarch incurred the wrath of the Kremlin because he got too big for his britches - not a concerted attack on the oil sector as a whole. Few top executives will talk about Yukos publicly, and most oil companies won't comment on their Russian investment strategies. But John Browne, BP's chairman, has defended his company's deal. When questioned earlier this year about the possible fallout from Yukos, Browne said: "At present, I would say - and I believe this will continue - that there has been no effect...
...Whatever the reason for the attack on Khodorkovsky, his supporters say the real issue is the rule of law, which affects all business. They cite what they say are the Kremlin's numerous violations of both Russian law and general business ethics, including intimidating raids on Yukos offices by armed security forces, harassment of the company's attorneys and the selective, retroactive application of new legal principles. If the Russian state can come down so heavy-handedly on one firm, the pro-Yukos camp argues, everyone is at risk. "It would be a very brave person that concluded Mr. Khodorkovsky...
...American company can raise its stake in Lukoil - but only to a ceiling of 20%, less than the 25% it needs to be able to block strategic company decisions. BP, by contrast, whose contract was signed eight months before Khodorkovsky's arrest, has a 50% share in its Russian joint venture. "That's a deal we won't see repeated," says Jonathan Stern of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. "The climate now is for strategic minority investments by foreign companies in Russian energy." Says William F. Browder, president of Hermitage Capital, an investment group based in Moscow: "For foreigners...
...Russian firms are stepping in where foreign companies find it harder to tread. Foremost among them is the giant Gazprom, whose gas reserves were recently valued at $78 billion and which is actively pushing to become a big player in the oil market. It is merging with Russia's seventh largest oil company, state-owned Rosneft, and Alexei Miller, Gazprom's chief executive, has signaled his interest in another oil producer, Zarubezhneft. Most dramatically, Gazprom has emerged as the best-positioned candidate to acquire Yugansk...
...There's a particular irony in recent developments because it was Khodorkovsky - now behind bars - who first demonstrated to the world how viable Russian oil can be. Back in the 1990s, that wasn't self-evident. The collapse of the Soviet Union was accompanied by a slide in Russian oil production, from a peak of almost 11 million bbl. per day in 1987 to just 6 million in 1996. Yukos blazed the trail - and helped reverse the oil slump - by investing heavily in existing fields in Siberia, bringing in Western technology and dozens of American and other experienced foreign managers...