[lbo-talk] Vladimir Putin's place in the ranks

[Peter Lavelle]

I basically agree with Chris. However, Gazprom's purchase of Sibneft remains opaque. My sense is that after Abramovich paid himself a dividend of $2.3 billion he transferred ownership of Sibneft (how much? I don't know) to Putin's inner circle. Thus, the $13 billion paid for Sibneft came from a state-owned company to Kremlin insiders (basically, the state paid itself with huge western loans). 

ss <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> wrote:

--- uvj at vsnl.com wrote:


> 
> What's your take (and Peter's) on the following news
> report on Gazprom's take over of Sibneft? Is it all
> part of Putin's retirement plans? -:)
> 

Peter will have a lot more to say about this than I
do, but we have at least in part 1) further
consolidation of Russia's energy resources in the
hands of the Kremlin and 2) Abramovich being rewarded
for being a good boy.*

The Gazprom-Lukoil-Sibneft monster is really reaching
Behemoth sizes. Remember that the Kremlin views its
energy resource position as a/the main lever of
foreign policy. And of course it is the cornerstone of
the economy. They don't want it in the hands of
gangsters who run a separate foreign policy anymore.

* I think Abramovich may want out of the oligarch
business. He'll retire and live in a giant yacht off
the English coast and fly in to see Chelsea play,
revelling in his astronomical wealth. ;)

I must say that, if one could point to a "good"
oligarch, Abramovich is the one. He ran Chukotka like
a giant daycare center.

Nu, zayats, pogodi!

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