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GAS Nord Stream 2 14 June, 2018 3:00 pm   

The truth about Gazprom that Putin wanted to hide

Despite the occupation of the Ukrainian Crimea, the world is preparing for the world cup in Russia. Meanwhile, a report went to the network, whose co-author Putin dismissed- says Wojciech Jakóbik, editor-in-chief of BiznesAlert.pl.

Sberbank has published a controversial report that undermines the profitability of Nord Stream 2 and other strategic Gazprom projects. Shortly after its co-author lost his job, and the report disappeared from the bank’s website. Now its content is published by oppositionist Alexei Navalny.

At BiznesAlert.pl, we have described the details of Sbierank extensively. It turns out that Gazprom’s megaports are not profitable, but they will be won by subcontractors, friends of President Vladimir Putin. After the publication of the report, Alexander Fack, co-responsible for the document, lost his job and disappeared from the institutions.

One of the Russian oppositionists Alexei Navalny reached the Sberbank report and decided to publish it on the website. He reminds that after the dismissing Fack, his superior also lost his job, and German Gref – the president of Sberbank – had to apologize to Gennady Timchenko, one of the contractors of Nord Stream 2 and a friend of Putin. Meanwhile, Navalny states that such reports are the normal practice of investment banks. They help investors understand the situation in the company and make a specific decision regarding the shares.

Navalny published a 43 pages long document. According to media reports on the document, it confirms that Russian Gazprom is a policy tool of Kremlin, not a typical business venture. It implements costly projects on a political order, even at the expense of losses on its side. The opposition reminds that although in 2008, the chairman Alexei Miller bode the capitalization of Gazprom on the level of one trillion dollars, now the company is worth 54 billion dollars. Navalny reminds that Netflix is worth 160 billion dollars, and Apple – 945 billion dollars.

However, the main problem of Gazprom is – as the report shows – that “its task is not to be profitable”. Navalny writes that the company “exists to enrich contractors,” that is Putin’s friends like Timchenko sanctioned for the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia.

Sberbank has analyzed the profitability of the Force of Siberia, Turkish Stream and Nord Stream 2. As we wrote in BiznesAlert.pl, it turns out that they are unprofitable and will only generate revenues for subcontractors. – Sberbank did not discover any sensation. This has always been clear and commented in the past – Navalny writes. In his opinion, Gazprom has become Putin’s “pocket venture”, which does not serve Russia or even its shareholders, but those who will be selected by the president of Russia.

– Do not believe that this is a mistake of administration or calculation. No. Gazprom is specially organized in this way. I mentioned Putin, Miller and Gref. Thirty years ago, in the nineties, these people sat in one office at mayor of St. Petersburg. At that time, the unknown Timchenko and Rotenberg came closer to them (Arkady, a friend of the president – editor’s note) – writes the oppositionist. He reminds that the pipe producer Nikolai Yegorov also comes from this environment.

According to the author of the leak, there is no chance of coincidence, and Gazprom’s mechanism of action resembles television series about the mafia. However, he assures that if the company’s authorities change, it can regain its strength and manage well in the global market. In this way, he probably addresses his potential voters. However, Sberbank’s information should first of all be thoroughly analyzed by Western companies co-financing Nord Stream 2. Will they still be persuaded that they are taking part in a purely business venture? Are they ready for the image-related costs of financing contracts for Putin’s oligarchs?