The leaders of the oil companies wrote to the president. They asked the head of state to pacify the Ministry of Finance and not raise taxes. Among the authors of the appeal was the chairman of the board of Gazprom Neft, Alexander Dyukov, a man whose work is often overlooked, as all attention is usually focused on Alexei Miller and Gazprom.

"Co" followed the path of Dyukov from the engineer of the St. Petersburg filling company and Vladimir Putin's acquaintance to the head of one of the largest oil corporations in Russia.

They beat him

"Do not take away our money" - this is the summary of the oil workers' letter to the president on September 24. So the leaders of energy corporations reacted to the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to change the formula for calculating the mineral extraction tax (MET). Head of the department Anton Siluanov urged to remove the cream from the industry, which received additional profit from the devaluation of the ruble. It was important for the Minister of Finance to sit on two chairs - to replenish the budget, which is in desperate need of funds and not to interfere with the fulfillment of the promise of the head of state. Vladimir Putin in June 2015 assured the business that taxes will not remain the current level.

The Ministry of Finance has developed an elegant scheme: the MET rate remains unchanged (the president keeps his word), but to the non-taxable deduction of $ 15 from the cost of a barrel of oil, one needs to apply not the current dollar rate, but the lowered one. As a result of fiscal fint, namely, the use of the dollar at 44 rubles. (the average value of the US currency in 2014 plus inflation), the state could receive an additional 609 billion rubles.

Of course, the companies did not want to part with the money. In the letter, Putin contained apocalyptic scenarios of the country's economic development. If the country's leadership listens to the Ministry of Finance, as early as 2016, 1 million Russians will remain unemployed due to a decrease in activity in the sectors adjacent to the "oil industry" - metallurgy, machine building, and drilling. If you fill the budget with super profits from devaluation, by 2025 the industry will not receive investments for 7 trillion rubles. If you take money from the fuel and energy complex, gasoline will rise in price, and some enterprises will go bankrupt. The top managers of Rosneft, Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz, Bashneft, Zarubezhneft, and the Independent Oil Company wrote about this to the Kremlin.

There was also a company on the list of petitioners, usually in the shadow of the parent corporation actively involved in Russia's foreign policy. Its head owes its exaltation to the "dashing nineties" and ties to the mayor's office of St. Petersburg, where the future president of the Russian Federation worked then. It's about Gazprom Neft and Alexander Dyukov.

Under the wing of Sobchak

By the end of the 20th century, Northern Palmyra gave Russia a whole galaxy of politicians and managers. New elites surfaced from the turbid waters of the port of St. Petersburg. In those years, the seat of the mayor of St. Petersburg was occupied by Anatoly Sobchak. His right hand was Vladimir Putin. He was engaged in economic activities - in general, he was responsible for relations with business. The future head of state actively contacted entrepreneurs, many of them in a few years took a high position in the state hierarchy.

Career of the 24-year-old graduate of the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute Alexander Dyukov began in the company "Sovex", which belonged to the now deceased Dmitry Skigin, who was surrounded by the authoritative businessman Ilya Traber named Antikvar. Traber for many years accompanied Dyukova on his way to the top. In 1991, Alexander Dyukov started from the position of an engineer. Now Sovets is a part of Gazpromneft-aero and is engaged in refueling aircraft in Pulkovo, as well as in the 1990s. According to information for 2013, the company's revenue was almost 14 billion rubles.

In 1996, Alexander Dyukov moved to CJSC Petersburg Oil Terminal (CJSC PNT) for the post of financial director. The management structures of the terminal, as it is not hard to guess, were headed by Ilya Traber. The company-trader Gunvor, co-founded by Gennady Timchenko (in an interview with TASS on August 4, 2014, he recalled that he had known Vladimir Putin for more than 20 years) traded in black gold and oil products just through PNT.

Two years later Dyukov rose to the economic director of OJSC "Sea Port of St. Petersburg". The company is strategically important not only for the northern capital, but for the entire North-West region. Annually through it passes about 50 million tons of cargo. In 1999, Alexander Dyukov became the head of the port. Traber also belonged to the board of the organization. It is noteworthy that the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller at that time was the Director for Development and Investments of the OJSC Sea Port of St. Petersburg and subordinated to Dyukov. It should be noted that in 1991-1996. Miller served as deputy to Vladimir Putin in the committee on external relations of the mayor's office of St. Petersburg.

Important is another structure associated with the port. In 1997, CJSC "Association of banks investing in the port" (CJSC "OBIP") was opened. De facto it controlled the port complex. The organization united not only the banks, but all the above-mentioned people. Supervised OBIP Ilya Traber, and Alexey Miller and Alexander Dyukov were authorized representatives of the association. In the same place, Mikhail Sirotkin worked as a lawyer; he is now the head of the corporate expenses management department of Gazprom, and, in combination, the director of Krasnoyarskgazprom.

At the turn of the nineties and zero, the port was a hot spot. Organized crime was involved in the struggle for spheres of influence, and the matter ended in great bloodshed. In 1997, the sniper killed Mikhail Manevich, the vice-governor of St. Petersburg and the head of the city property management committee. He was responsible, among other things, for the privatization of the port and proposed to make the state-owned block of preferred shares of the enterprise (28.8%) voting. In the same year, the director general of the North-Western river shipping company Yevgeny Khokhlov and his deputy Nikolai Evstafiev were shot. In 2001, the co-owner of the North-Western Customs Terminal Nikolay Shatilo and the general director of the terminal Vitold Kaidanovich were killed.

2000 was the year of the rise of Putin and Dyukov. The first was elected president of Russia, the second was returned to PNT and became chairman of the board of directors. Today the terminal is an important hub for the region on the export highway. Through it, you can drive up to 12.5 million tons of oil and oil products a year. The leadership of PNT tied Alexander Dyukov to oil. From now on, he will continue to deal only with black gold. And Ilya Traber imperceptibly left the scene, having left for Spain.

In the years 2003-2006. Dyukov headed Sibur, the country's largest petrochemical holding. The enterprise was owned by Gazprom (51% of shares). The current composition of the main shareholders looks like this: 50.2% - Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of the Board of Novatek, 21.3% belong to the deputy chairman of the Sibur Board Kirill Shamalov, 15.3% from Gennady Timchenko.

In 2006, the top management of Gazprom faced a problem. The head of Gazprom Neft, Alexander Ryazanov, wanted more independence and independence for his company. The unruly leader was dismissed. Since then, the company to a bright future is led by Alexander Dyukov. In 2008, he added a new line to the summary, becoming the president of the St. Petersburg football club Zenit, whose matches Miller likes to attend.

Traber's name resurfaced in connection with the cases in St. Petersburg in May 2015. Radio Liberty published an interview with entrepreneur Maxim Freudson, but soon the text was removed from the site with the wording "Publication removed at the request of the interlocutor who fears for his safety". Freudson argued that Ilya Traber worked closely with Tambov's organized criminal group in the 1990s and was simultaneously connected with the authorities of St. Petersburg.

However, Alexander Dyukova, in addition to meeting Traber, whose reputation is very doubtful, there is nothing to blame.

Two Abramovich in Siberia

No less interesting is the history of Gazprom Neft itself. The company emerged from the energy assets torn from the state, passed through the millstone of the 1990s, collided with key figures of the era and turned into a major player of the world scale.

In the beginning, there was Rosneft. In 1995, Boris Yeltsin issued a decree according to which the Noyabrskoye fields in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Omsk Oil Refinery were alienated from Rosneft.

Founded in 1949, Omsk Refinery, according to many experts, was and remains the most advanced and large enterprise of this type in the country. In 2012, the World Association of Oil Refining Companies recognized it as the best refinery in Russia and CIS countries. In 2014, it took the first place in Russia in terms of processing with an indicator of 21.3 million tons of raw materials (+ 5.2% per year) with a capacity of 21.4 million tons. Omsk refinery produces diesel and marine fuel, gasoline and aviation kerosene.

Oil fields and Omsk refinery merged into Sibneft. In the early years of its existence, it produced about 20 million tons of oil (about 7% of production in the country) of the Siberian Light brand. For $ 100 million, the structures of Boris Berezovsky privatized the corporation. The oligarch left to look after Sibneft for his colleague Roman Abramovich. Since 1998 the enterprise has expanded. Oil began to be extracted in the Tomsk and Omsk regions. Under the control of Sibneft, Slavneft moved with deposits in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

In 2001, already in London, Berezovsky told how difficult it was to take Sibneft under control. He did not have enough tens of millions of dollars to buy a corporation. "I went to the West, met with Mr. Soros in America, with many businessmen in Europe and Japan to get loans or offer partnerships. Everywhere I heard the same answer: "We can not give a single dollar," he said. The businessman explained that potential investors rated the risks of working in Russia as extremely high. "No one dared to take them upon themselves. Including those gentlemen who later loudly shouted about the injustice of privatization. We have taken on enormous risks, invested the last money in the country, "Berezovsky said about the purchase of Sibneft. True, it remains a mystery how exactly the oligarch collected the missing money and whether there was any shortage of funds at all. Ten years later, Roman Abramovich in the High Court of London said that the auction for the privatization of Sibneft was a fiction: Boris Berezovsky and his partner Badri Patarkatsishvili agreed with other bidders and bought the company at a starting price. $ 100 million - a mere penny, if you take into account, for what money, "Sibneft" was later sold to the state.

In 2003, another oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, began creating the country's largest private oil company by merging Yukos and Sibneft. Oil reserves of the new corporation were estimated at 19.5 billion barrels (almost 20% of the total Russian reserves), production level - 120 million tons (29% of oil production in Russia), capitalization - $ 30 billion. With such indicators, the company could play on one field with global giants like BP or Royal Dutch Shell.

In October 2003, Khodorkovsky was arrested on charges of fraud and non-payment of taxes. In a couple of years, Sibneft returned under the wing of the state. Millhouse Capital Roman Abramovich sold to Gazprom 75.7% stake in the corporation for $ 13.1 billion. In 2006, it was renamed Gazprom Neft. In April 2009, Alexey Miller signed the agreement on the transfer of a 20% stake in Gazprom Neft from the Italian Eni to Gazprom. Today, the parent company controls 95.68% of the subsidiary's securities.

Fate scattered the heroes of this story. Abramovich and Berezovsky went to London. The first - in the status of a billionaire, the second - an outcast. Khodorkovsky moved to Krasnokamensk, to an incantation colony No. 10. And Dyukov, showing himself a reliable member of the St. Petersburg team, sat on the throne of Gazprom Neft.

Cheap shelf

Modern Gazprom Neft is an energy corporation with reserves of 1.44 billion tons of oil equivalent (included in the Top 20 world companies in this indicator). In 2014, it managed to produce 66.3 million tons of hydrocarbons (+ 6.4% per year), ranking fourth in Russia in terms of production. Net profit in the last year is equal to 188.5 billion rubles. As of October 9, the company's capitalization reaches 715.4 billion rubles. For comparison: the market value of Gazprom on the same date is 3.4 trillion rubles, Rosneft 2.8 trillion rubles, Lukoil 2 trillion rubles, Surgutneftegaz 1.6 trillion rubles.

Gazprom Neft has long arms: it works in Venezuela (in agreement with the state company PdVSA), Iraq (30% in the Badra project - a 3 billion barrel field), it owns 56.15% of the Serbian company NIS, through which " Gazprom Neft "enters the markets of Hungary, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and even Angola.

But most of all the corporation management is proud of the development of the Arctic shelf. April 18, 2014 on the world market was the first Russian oil grade Arctic Oil from the platform at the Prirazlomnoye field. The command for shipping Alexei Miller (it was he, not Dyukov who was present on the platform) was given personally by Vladimir Putin from Novo-Ogarevo. The volume of the first delivery is 70,000 tons. So far, Prirazlomnoye is the only point in the Arctic where the Russian Federation produces hydrocarbons. The reserves of the site are about 70 million tons. "Despite the fact that Gazprom Neft is part of the Gazprom group, the company is operating quite efficiently," said Mikhail Krutikhin, partner of RusEnergy consulting company. - With Dyukov, sound investment decisions are made. No, unlike Gazprom, excessive politicization. Alexei Miller is not a manager of Gazprom, but a postman between the Kremlin, where he delivers incompetent reports, and Nametkin Street, where he returns with the same incompetent tasks. But he, at least, does not interfere with the work of Gazprom Neft.

The Ministry of Energy expects that by 2035 production on the shelf will grow threefold, to 50 million tons per year. The current configuration is as follows: 14 million tons gives the Far Eastern shelf, 2 million tons - the shelf of the South Seas, 1 million tons - the Arctic shelf. In 20 years, the Arctic will have 33 million tons per year, the Far East - 15 million tons, the South Sea - the same 2 million tons. In this program, Gazprom Neft is assigned the role of the flagship. Although Rosneft also claims to develop the northern expanses.

The implementation of the Russian government's plans may be hampered by international sanctions against Moscow imposed by the European Union and the United States. Among other things, they prohibit the supply of offshore equipment to Russia. The black list also includes Gazprom Neft. The main analyst of Promsvyazbank Ekaterina Krylova reported that the share of domestic components on the Prirazlomnaya platform barely exceeds 10%. Despite this, the company managed to adjust to the sanctions requirements and find alternative suppliers. Gazprom Neft produces at Prirazlomnoye in accordance with the schedule: in the first six months of 2015 the company produced 300,000 tons, and by the end of the year it expects to bring the figure up to 800,000 tons, which is 200,000 tons more than planned, "she points out.

But the production of oil at Prirazlomnoye began before the exchange of sanctions, it would be strange to expect that the deposit can be preserved after the geopolitical situation worsens. Another important point - the first Russian experience of extracting fuel in the Arctic is difficult to call high-tech. "This is not quite the Arctic shelf, of which there are so many conversations. The depth of the sea in the mining area is only 19-20 m. The project is quite simple and cheap. At the peak of production, the cost will be about $ 10 per barrel - it's very cheap by the standards of any shelf, "- said the analyst of the investment company" Veles Capital "Vasily Tanurkov.

In the future, the construction of new platforms, drilling and pumping from deep-sea sites will require more advanced technologies. Of course, the process of import substitution began in the "oil industry", but it will take at least several years to complete it. But even in the presence of modern equipment, no company will take risks, investing in the shelf in an unfavorable situation.

And one more factor - price fluctuations in the market. The cost of oil, due to the global balance of supply and demand, remains low. "With the current level of oil prices, the real beginning of industrial production in the Arctic is postponed indefinitely. It will be time for independent technology development. Another thing is that the projects in any case will be extremely expensive: to start large-scale work will have to attract foreign investors, "- summed up Vasily Tanurkov.

In this, the platform "Prirazlomnaya" can remain a showcase of Russia on the Arctic shelf, and it will be extremely difficult to advance further because of sanctions and unattractive quotations. Another blow to the projects of Gazprom Neft, and other companies of the fuel and energy sector was caused by the state itself.

Cream from oil

A petition addressed to the president, in the writing of which Alexander Dyukov took part, acted. But only in part. The government decided not to use the scheme of the Ministry of Finance and refused to apply to the tax deduction a reduced dollar rate. In the department of Anton Siluanov did not lose their heads. They proposed a second idea: to freeze the export duty on oil at 42% in 2016 (it should have been reduced to 36%). A positive effect for the budget is about 200 billion rubles. On October 9, the Cabinet approved this measure. The Ministry of Finance will nevertheless remove the cream from the industry, although not as thick as we would like.

At the beginning of October, Dyukov on the air of the Rossiya24 television channel said that the freezing of the export duty would have a negative impact not only on the oil sector, but also on the subcontractors - producers of equipment and field chemistry, oilfield service companies, software developers. "The most unpleasant thing is that this will also affect the budget revenues. Direct revenues from the "oil industry" to the budget in the first half of 2016 may be growing, but if we talk about the end of 2016, as well as about 2017 and 2018, the budget will receive less than if these 200 billion rubles. remained in the industry, "commented the head of Gazprom Neft. In his opinion, the Ministry of Finance will have to come out to the government in a half-year with a similar initiative. "This is the situation of the chess zugzwang, when the next move only worsens the situation, first of all for the budget," Dyukov complained.

Representatives of Gazprom Neft ignored the request "Co" about the work of the company in terms of sanctions and a frozen duty. Director of the analytical department of the investment company "Golden Hills-Capital AM" Mikhail Krylov said that the daughter of Gazprom exports about 9 million tons of oil, and in case of delay in reducing the duty, the company will receive less than 30 billion rubles. "In the future, Gazprom Neft will find it difficult to keep a share in Russian oil production without new projects, which, in turn, are difficult to implement under sanctions," he believes. For Gazprom Neft, the freezing of the export duty will cost approximately 5% of EBITDA (in 2014 the figure was equal to 342.6 billion rubles.), Vasily Tanurkov believes. According to Ekaterina Krylova, the company will lose up to 2% of EBITDA in 2016. "In case of implementation of the first proposal of the Ministry of Finance, the corporation would lose about 14% of EBITDA," she adds. "It is clear that the budget of the country needs funds, but in this case it should not be forgotten that the oil and gas industry is one of the key sources of its filling. And this source is not unlimited. I would like to hope that the authorities understand this, "- says the leading expert of the Criminal Code" Finam Management "Dmitry Baranov.

One way or another, oil companies do not have much choice. They said they should share it. Even old acquaintance with Putin does not help especially. Nothing personal, it's just a deficit budget. And the 47-year-old Alexander Dyukov, whose history goes back to post-perestroika St. Petersburg and is closely connected with the mayor's office, remains nothing but to take under the visor. For this reason, he was put at the head of Gazprom Neft in 2006, cleaning up the rebellious Alexander Ryazanov. However, everyone will submit - Sechin, Alekperov, and others who signed the letter to the president. Money is needed for the state here and now.