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Каспинфо ноябрь 1999 |
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Название: Бюллетень Туркистан на английском Главные Пункты: * Казахстан и Азербайджан хотят диверсифицировать маршруты нефтепроводов. * Транснефть получит 120 млн. долларов за чеченский трубопровод. * Шеврон продолжит инвестировать в бывшем Советском Союзе. * Российские нефтяные фирмы начинают работать в Ираке. * Сбербанк и ЕБРР отказываются от сделки с Транснефтью по строительству трубопровода в обход Чечни. 1 ноября 1999 (10.11.1999) Полный Текст Бюллетень Туркистан на английском TURKISTAN-ECONOMY-BULLETIN...ISSN:--1386-6265 Volume 99:134-05-November-1999 Editors: Charlie Bartholomew, Mehmet Tutuncu This issue distributes to 2593 subscribers in 65 countries Reactions to: < turkistan-n-request@nic.surfnet.nl This issue distributes to 2593 subscribers in 65 countries Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan want diversity of oil pipelines November 02, Kazakh Prime Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev and his Azeri counterpart Artur Rasizade said their countries would prefer to have a variety of oil pipelines for the export of their oil. Interfax quoted Tokayev as telling a news conference in Astana on October 22 that his country supported the plans to construct a Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. "The more pipelines available, the better for Kazakhstan with its potential," he said. The two sides have agreed to hold consultations on the commercial feasibility of the project whose costs are estimated by various experts at US$ 2.4 billion to US$ 4 billion, Tokayev said. 1.5 million tonnes of Kazakh oil has been moved to Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea, he said. An annual amount of 10 million tonnes will be moved that way His country does not rule out building a pipeline towards Iran and, if a peace treaty is signed, across Armenia, Rasizade said. The two countries have only unspecified minor differences over the status of the Caspian Sea, he said. Kazakhstan wants the seabed and its mineral resources divided into national sectors while believing that the surface and water resources of the sea should be used jointly Rasizade was staying in Kazakhstan on an official visit at the head of a governmental delegation. The two heads of government the Kazakh-Azeri in governmental trade and economic co-operation commission and two governmental delegations met Friday morning. Agreements were signed on co-operation in public health and medical science, protection of copyright, similar rights and working activities and social protection of Azeri and Kazakh citizens temporarily employed in the other country. A program of bilateral co-operation and a plan of activities in its implementation were adopted. *********** Russia Transneft gets $120m for Chechnya pipeline November 02, 1999 Transneft, a monopoly operating Russian oil pipelines, has obtained from Sberbank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) a $120m guarantee for the construction of a branch of the Baku-Novorossiiysk oil pipeline to bypass Chechnya. Talks on guarantees are underway also, with other western banks, Transneft CEO Semyon Vainshtok is quoted as saying. Fuel and Energy Ministry figures put the cost of the 250 km pipeline at $200 -$250m, It will take six to eight months to build. Chevron to go on investing in FSU Posted Tuesday, November 02 The president of Chevron Neftegaz Inc. said the company would invest between $500 million and $1 billion a year over the next few years in the TengizChevroil project to boost oil production in Kazakhstan. The project is the first and most successful to involve a foreign investor in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Interfax quoted him as saying. Precisely how much the company invests will depend on progress made by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) with transporting Kazakh crude to market. Chevron will invest $700 million in this project by 2001. As for Chevron's activity in Russia, MacDonald said the Russian projects were "long-term" and would definitely be carried out" "I do not consider it hard to work in Russia," Interfax quoted MacDonald as saying. He said be wished the rules by which various instructions were given could be consistent. He cited alterations and uncertainty as the worst problem with investing in Russia. "If certain companies are reluctant to invest in Russia, it is only because of the uncertainty the other problems can be solved," he said. Although Chevron has not invested in production sharing agreements, MacDonald said the Russian PSA law was generally okay. There were some little details to sort out, like guarantees for the return of moneys, calculation of the tax base, and permitted quotas to use local personnel and inputs. Interfax quoted MacDonald as saying oil companies in Russia were working closely with the State Duma, making their proposals on how to improve legislation. This is a normal process that can ultimately produce decisions to suit everybody, although it is very time consuming, Russian Oil firms Start Work in Iraq- 28 Oct 1999 Reuters BAGHDAD, - An Iraqi newspaper reported on Wednesday that Russian oil companies had begun implementing $400 million worth of contracts in Iraq. Al-Illam (information) weekly quoted Oil Minister Amir Muhammed Rasheed as saying these firms would take part in developing oil and gas fields. "Russian companies have begun implementing contracts worth $400 million which were signed recently with the ministry of oil," the paper said. It said the contracts included the development of oil refineries and the southern oilfields of al-Lihais, stage six of Rumailah and various gas fields. Under the current United Nations sanctions, imposed for Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Baghdad is banned from free oil exports and investment in its oil sector. But the U.N. has permitted Iraq to sell limited quantities of crude to buy relief needs for Iraqi people. Russian Fuel and Energy Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny in recent press remarks said private Russian oil companies might start developing Iraqi oilfields despite the sanctions. He was quoted by a Russian newspaper as saying the government could not prevent private oil firms like LUKoil, where the state had just a 28 percent stake, from intensifying cooperation with Iraq if it decided to ignore the sanctions. LUKoil is entrusted with implementing a $3.5 billion contract Baghdad signed two years ago with Moscow to develop the seven to eight billion barrels of reserves in West Qurana oilfield in southern Iraq. Kalyuzhny, during a visit to Iraq earlier this month, said the U.N. sanctions posed problems in implementing the West Qurana deal but said he had signed new contracts with Iraqi officials. He detailed several other projects that Russian firms could start work on such as oil exploration, drilling and development of Iraq's oil refineries and gas fields. The Iraqi paper did not name these companies but Kalyuzhny in previous remarks had named them as Tatneft, Bashneft, Rosneftegazstroy and LUKoil. Yugo Bank Group to Finance Gas Transit via Hungary BELGRADE, Oct 30, 1999 -- (Reuters) Thirteen Yugoslav banks on Friday set up a consortium to finance the transit of Russian gas through Hungary, but declined to be identified for fear of joining a list of officials banned from the European Union. "The banks have agreed to finance $13.5 million worth of the gas transit costs through Hungary. A further $3.0 million will be financed from other sources," Milos Milosavljevic, chairman of the board of directors of the bank association and head of Jugobanka, told a news conference. The agreement was reached at a meeting held behind closed doors and bankers left without comment. "I do not want the name of my bank in any report," said one banker who asked not to be named. Serbian bankers and businessmen are afraid mention of their names in media could get them put on a list of officials and individuals close to the government of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic banned from traveling to EU countries. The list, which also involves freezing the officials' assets in the EU, currently contains 308 names. The independent Beta news agency reported earlier this week that Jugobanka, Beogradska Banka and Komercijalna Banka were among members of the consortium. Their directors are already on the list. Milosavljevic declined to say which banks had joined the consortium with the task to service Belgrade's rescheduled debt to Hungary for transit costs. Local media have said the debt ranged between $20 and $25 million. Deliveries of the gas, which Serbia agreed with Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom in September, started only 10 days ago after Budapest allowed the transit. Hungary, an aspiring EU-member, had blocked the shipments for nearly a month of its own accord, insisting it wanted to comply with an EU fuel embargo against Yugoslavia, which never specifically mentioned gas. Sberbank, EBRD deny deal with Transneft on oil pipeline to bypass Chechnya 1 Nov 1999 AFP MOSCOW, Nov 1 (AFP) - Sberbank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said Monday they denied a deal with oil pipeline operator Transneft on the funding of a new oil pipeline to bypass Chechnya. Last month, Transneft announced an agreement with the two banks for a guaranteed loan of 120 million dollars. The pipeline, which the Russian government says should be completed within six months, will bypass northern Chechnya, transporting Azerbaijani oil from the Caspian to the Russian port of Novorossiiysk. Construction of the project, the cost of which is estimated at 180 million dollars, compared with initial estimates of between 200 and 259 million dollars, has begun, although no information has been released about the means of financing it. Russian gas giant Gazprom to sell 4.8 percent stake to foreigners 3 Nov 1999 AFP MOSCOW, Nov 3 (AFP) - Russian gas giant Gazprom wants to sell 4.8 percent of its shares to foreign investors in the near future, said the firm's deputy director-general Sergei Dubinine, quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency Wednesday. No other detail was reported. Gazprom, which in 1998 produced 94 percent of the gas extracted in Russia and 23 percent worldwide, controls a quarter of the world's natural gas reserves. The government owns about 40 percent of the company. |