Invest Union (formerly Gazpromneft) is a Russian company based in St. Petersburg and a former subsidiary of

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...

. It is not to be confused with Gazprom Neft (formerly Sibneft), which is another company. On 19 December 2004, Gazpromneft (along with

Baikalfinansgrup Baikalfinansgrup (russian: Байкалфинансгруп) is a Russian limited liability company owned by Rosneft Oil Company. It is best known as the company that won the December 19, 2004 auction for a 76.79% share in Yuganskneftegaz, forme ...

) participated in a State-run auction for former

Yukos OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" (russian: ОАО Нефтяна́я Компа́ния Ю́КОС, links=no, ) was an oil and gas company based in Moscow, Russia. Yukos was acquired from the Russian government by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovs ...

subsidiary Yuganskneftegaz. At the time of the auction, the CEO of Gazpromneft was

Sergey Bogdanchikov Sergey Mikhailovich Bogdanchikov (in russian: Серге́й Михайлович Богданчиков, born August 10, 1957, in Severny District, Orenburg Oblast, Soviet Union) is a Russian manager. He received a degree from Buguruslansky Gas ...

, the then and current President of

Rosneft PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian Vertical integration, integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, Extraction of petroleum, extraction, production, refining, Petroleum t ...

. Gazpromneft did not place a bid at the auction, allowing

to obtain Yuganskneftegaz at the lowest bid, which was less than half Yuganskneftegaz's market value at the time. Four days later, on 23 December 2004,

was purchased by

, causing considerable controversy as to the propriety of the auction.

References

{{Portal, Russia, Energy Oil companies of Russia Companies based in Saint Petersburg