Sidanko (Сиданко; russian: Сибирско-Дальневосточная нефтяная компания, , Siberian-Far Eastern Oil Company) was a Russian oil company, the 8th largest company in the country by revenue in 1995. Sidanko owned several oil production units, including
Chernogorneft and
Udmurtneft.
History
Sidanko was established through the Decree No. 452 of the Russian government, published on 5 May 1994. The company counted among its assets oil extraction and processing facilities in the Udmurt Republic and in the Khanty-Mansiysk, Yamalo-Nenets, Irkutsk and Sakhalin regions.
It was privatized in December 1995, when the Russian government auctioned off a 51% share as part of the
loans for shares
Beginning in 1995, Boris Yeltsin's government began privatizing state-owned shares in companies through a loans for shares scheme. The scheme helped with "fundraising" for Yeltsin's 1996 reelection campaign and restructuring freshly-sold compan ...
scheme. The 51% stake was awarded to the bank
Mezhdunarodnaya Finansovaya Kompaniya in return for a $130 million loan, guaranteed by
Vladimir Potanin
Vladimir Olegovich Potanin (russian: Владимир Олегович Потанин; born 3 January 1961) is a Russian billionaire businessman. He acquired his wealth notably through the controversial loans-for-shares program in Russia in ...
's Uneximbank. The company came under the ownership of Uneximbank, which exercised control over it through the
Interros
Interros is a Russian conglomerate controlled by Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin with large stakes in mining, metals, energy, finance, retail, real estate and other sectors. The company's headquarters are located in Moscow.
Origins
The compan ...
holding company.
An additional 34% stake was sold by the government in September 1996, in an auction designed to have Uneximbank as the only admissible bidder. As with the rest of the loan for shares scheme, the Sidanko auction was considered rigged by most analysts.
In November 1997
British Petroleum bought a 10% share in the company for $484 million.
Sidanko entered bankruptcy proceedings in February 1999, after ZAO Beta Ekho filed to recover a $22,000 debt. Beta Ekho was later revealed to be a vehicle of
Mikhail Fridman
Mikhail Maratovich Fridman (also transliterated Mikhail Friedman; russian: Михаил Маратович Фридман; he, מיכאיל פרידמן; born 21 April 1964) is a Ukrainian-born, Russian–Israeli businessman, billionaire, and ...
's
Alfa Group
Alfa Group Consortium () is Russian international privately owned investment groups, with interests in oil and gas, commercial and investment banking, asset management, insurance, retail trade, telecommunications, water utilities and special sit ...
, which was using bankruptcy laws to avenge Fridman's exclusion by Potanin from the
Svyazinvest
OJSC Svyazinvest ( Russian: ОАО Связьинвест) was Russia's largest telecommunications holding company. Based in Moscow, it was founded according to Order №1297 of the Russian government on November 25, 1994, and was registered on Se ...
privatization. In September 1999 western creditors agreed to cede their voting rights in the company to Russian government.
Tyumen Oil Company bought Sidanko's Chernogorneft unit for $176 million at a bankruptcy auction in November 1999. In 2001 Interros sold a 44% stake in the company for $650 million.
BP raised its stake to 25% in 2002, paying $375 million for a 15% share. In 2003 Sidanko merged with TNK, Onako and the majority of BP's oil assets in Russia to form
TNK-BP
TNK-BP (Tyumenskaya Neftyanaya Kompaniya, Tyumen Oil Company) was a major vertically integrated Russian oil company headquartered in Moscow. It was Russia's third-largest oil producer and among the ten largest private oil companies in the world. ...
.
References
External links
Official website(archived)
{{Authority control
Russian companies established in 1994
Defunct oil companies of Russia
Companies disestablished in 2001
Companies based in Moscow