<html><body> <DIV> George Soros says Russia�s OSA Rosneft IPO should not proceed Posted online: Thursday, July 06, 2006 at 0000 hours IST LONDON, JULY 5: Billionaire investor George Soros said OAO Rosneft, Russia�s state oil company, shouldn�t proceed with its initial public offering because it will legitimise the government�s attempts to dominate global energy supplies. ��It�s an issue that should not be allowed to proceed, but I think it will,�� Soros said on Monday night at a London School of Economics public forum. The Russian ��state is reasserting control,�� he said. Russia, the world�s second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, seized OAO Yukos Oil Co assets in 2004 to build Rosneft. Now the country�s third-biggest oil company, Rosneft announced plans in June to raise as much as $11.6 billion in a stock offering expected this month. The deal is President Vladimir Putin�s attempt to put Rosneft in a league with Exxon Mobil Corp and BP Plc. Soros, the 75-year-old former financier who turned his attention to political and charitable activities, said Europe is too dependent on Russia for energy. ��The dependence on Russian energy will become excessive�� unless the EU adopts a more cohesive energy policy, Soros added. Russia is at odds with the EU over the Energy Charter, which would give foreign companies access to Russian pipelines. Russia is pushing through a law that will formalise the position of OAO Gazprom, the world�s largest natural gas producer, as the country�s gas export monopoly. Gazprom argues that the EU�s energy liberalisation is undermining the current system of long-term contracts. ��Russia is acting as a monopoly supplier,�� Soros said, ��and it is essential for Europe to have a coordinated energy policy to be able to stand up as equal partners in negotiating with Russia.�� The Rosneft IPO ��raises serious ethical and energy security issues,�� Soros wrote in an April opinion piece in the Financial Times. He also criticised the US government�s decision last year to block Cnooc Ltd, China�s largest offshore oil producer, from acquiring Unocal Corp. �Bloomberg http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=132948</DIV></body></html>