Personnel changes have taken place at Lukoil. Lukoil is looking for where deeper ... in America? Biography Subbotin Lukoil

Now I will give several quotes and links to primary sources.

Kirill V. Molodtsov, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.

I myself am fond of cars and helped my comrades open the Museum of the ZIL plant in Sokolniki. (http://tass.ru/opinions/interviews/4096362)

One of Novak's deputies, Kirill Molodtsov, uses an Audi A8 as an official car, but occasionally gets to the ministry behind the wheel of his own representative ZIL. The official is a big fan of these cars and as a hobby he restores and tunes them on his own. (https://www.znak.com/2015-12-08/na_chem_peredvigayutsya_sechin_bogdanov_i_drugie_vidnye_neftyaniki_strany)

Kirill Molodtsov, Anti-Corruption Declaration 2015: Passenger car, Porsche Cayman S Other, ZIL 119 "Yunost" - bus Spouse: Passenger car, Aston Martin
Anti-Corruption Declaration 2016: Passenger car, Porsche Cayenne Passenger car, Lada XRAY Spouse: Passenger car, Aston Martin (http://declarator.org/person/11709/)

Despite the fact that not only in state, but also in commercial companies, business with affiliated structures is not welcomed, so to speak, Molodtsov started making money in parallel while still in Sibur.
One could speculate about the ethics of Molodtsov's behavior as a top manager of Sibur, given that he earned money at the expense of his own company. But, apparently, in Sibur itself today they have nothing against the old sins of their former employee. Moreover, the loyalty of the holding's management to him is evidenced by the fact that after the appointment of Molodtsov as Deputy Minister of Energy, almost all cargo transportation of this structure was transferred to his wife. ... its revenue and profits have increased hundreds of times!
One way or another, financial transactions alone with the participation of Kirill Molodtsov personally are revealed in these documents for 700 million rubles. ... we can conclude that the main purpose of all the numerous and intricate operations could be precisely the withdrawal of funds from controlled companies, including with the purpose, as one might assume, to create the appearance of the legitimacy of receiving the declared income of happy spouses.
In what in what, and in the "monetization" of his position, Molodtsov is really great. He also succeeded in shaping the image of a respectable government official. Looking at the list of his awards, you begin to suspect that the commemorative medal "XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi" or the medal "For the Return of Crimea" were handed out by the government to everyone and indiscriminately. But these awards will not say a word about how their owners succeeded in converting. public service into big money.
Kirill Molodtsov in corruption tandem with Lukoilovsky Subbotin (https://www.rospres.org/government/18515/)

Subbotin Valery Sergeevich, top manager oil company LUKOIL (https://rucompromat.com/persons/subbotin_valeriy)

According to sources from Lukoil, Valery Subbotin has long been ready to say good-bye to Russia, since he has already applied for US citizenship and even received a green card. And his family had long since said goodbye to their homeland. And Subbotin himself spends more time in Switzerland than in Russia. (http://www.moscow-post.com/economics/lukojl_svalit_v_ameriku23782/)

In December 2016, Valery Subbotin, the former vice president of Lukoil for oil supplies and sales, boarded a plane and left Russia. Now Subbotin, according to his acquaintances, visits the USA and Switzerland. (https://rucompromat.com/articles/kak_treyder_lukoyla_zanyal_zametnoe_mesto_na_ryinke_torgovli_neftyu)

Let's stop.

Why am I torturing you with these quotes? It's simple: the company MSC6 AMOZIL (http://msc6.ru/), which bought all the assets of the 6th workshop of ZIL (a full warehouse of spare parts for limousines and unfinished cars), and also rented the workshop itself, runs a business with funds in interests of Kirill Molodtsov and Valery Subbotin.

And here is the same Youth Molodtsov, indicated in the declaration for 2015, but mysteriously disappeared from the documents in 2016.

Sold? I doubt it. It is difficult to sell such a car, this is a kitsch absurdity, not Youth. Only the body remained from the original car, the engine chassis elements were taken from the Chevrolet Suburban, and in the cabin there is generally a godless shit with screens and all sorts of electric drives controlled from a tablet.

I mean nothing bad. On the contrary: Molodtsov and Subbotin managed to make a business on rarities, and in such a way that no one is offended. The question is different: in their sixth workshop and at the exhibition in Sokolniki, they store cars that de jure belong to ZiL. It was they who were supposed to form the basis of the museum of the plant, which they promised to build instead of the destroyed old one, which was in the Melnikov building. And where is this museum?

Meanwhile, all the exhibits of the failed museum are at the disposal private firm MSC6 AMOZIL.

Valery Sergeevich Subbotin (born 1974, Tyumen, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, RSFSR, USSR) is a top manager of the oil company LUKOIL. In 1996 he graduated from Tyumen state University... In 1996-1998, he studied at Anglia Business School, Cambridge (UK), received the title of Master of Business Administration.

1998-2000 - financial analyst, financial manager at LUKOIL-Prague. 2000-2001 - Deputy general director company LUKOIL-Bulgaria. 2001-2002 - financial manager of the Moscow office of the Swiss trader LUKOIL Litasco. 2002-2003 - Deputy General Director of LUKOIL Pan-Americas (USA). 2003-2005 - First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Board of Directors of LUKOIL. 2005-2007 - First Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for Supplies and Sales of LUKOIL. From October 2007 to February 2017 - Vice President and Head of the Main Directorate for Supplies and Sales of LUKOIL. Since February 2017 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of LUKOIL's international trader Litasco.

Related Articles

How a Lukoil trader took a prominent place in the oil trading market

Litasco is a unique phenomenon for the Russian oil business. It seems that this is the only oil trader of Russian origin, which not only sells someone else's oil and oil products, but also does it in volumes comparable to the supplies of related companies.

Rosneft prematurely terminated a major contract between Bashneft and LUKOIL

Two weeks after purchasing a controlling stake in Bashneft, Rosneft decided to terminate its agreement with LUKOIL on the purchase of oil at three Ufa refineries and the sale of oil products. The total amount of these contracts was about 400 billion rubles.

Alekperov to follow Evtushenkov?

After the arrest of the owner of the AFK Sistema holding, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the state may present its claims to the main shareholder of Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov.

Why did the vice president of Lukoil for oil supplies and sales, who claimed to be Vagit Alekperov, went abroad to work?

Litasco is a unique phenomenon for the Russian oil business. It seems that this is the only oil trader of Russian origin that not only sells someone else's oil and oil products, but also does it in volumes comparable to the supplies of related companies. In December 2016, Valery Subbotin, the former vice president of Lukoil for oil supplies and sales, boarded a plane and left Russia. Most likely for a long time. In Lukoil, Subbotin's departure from the central office was announced only in February 2017 and was explained by the “planned rotation of the management staff,” although the company perceived him as one of the successors of President Vagit Alekperov.

In fact, Subbotin was saved. The very next day after the privatization of Bashneft in October 2016, Rosneft was rapidly taking control of a new subsidiary. Acquaintance with the documents, more like searches and seizures, a month later led to the termination of part of the contracts with Lukoil - they raised questions, explained the press secretary of Rosneft Mikhail Leontyev. And the threat looms over Subbotin, two oil traders are sure. It was he who was responsible for trade relations with Bashneft. The main blow was dealt to Subbotin, because even earlier he had disagreements with the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin, says a participant in the negotiations between Rosneft and Lukoil. It was dangerous to stay in Russia in such a situation.

Mikhail Leontiev

Now Subbotin, according to his acquaintances, visits the USA and Switzerland. It was not possible to contact him. In Geneva, he chairs the board of directors of Litasco, Lukoil's own trading company. In 2015, she became the largest buyer of Russian oil according to Forbes. Traders were confident that in 2016 Litasco would definitely lose ground due to friction between Lukoil and Rosneft. But that did not happen. Moreover, Litasco managed to keep the contract for the sale of oil from the fields. Trebs and Titov, which is produced by the JV Bashneft and Lukoil.

Litasco is a unique phenomenon for the Russian oil business. It seems that this is the only oil trader of Russian origin that not only sells someone else's oil and oil products, but also does it in volumes comparable to the supplies of related companies. How did Lukoil manage to occupy a prominent place in the global oil trade?

Intermediary time

Lukoil hasn't come up with anything new! " - exclaims one of the former leaders of Soyuznefteexport. It is this organization from the system of the Ministry foreign trade The USSR, according to the interlocutor of Forbes, became the prototype of Litasco. Until 1991, Soyuznefteexport was an absolute monopoly in the export of Russian oil and had representative offices all over the world. Despite the annual turnover of 200 million tons of oil, several dozen traders and 200 service personnel worked at Soyuznefteexport, says a former employee of the organization.

In 1991, oil producers, refineries and traders were granted the right to export oil. Licenses were issued so uncontrollably that in the same year the permitted export volume exceeded the actually available resources, the Minister of Fuel and Energy Vladimir Lopukhin reported to Deputy Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar. “It was such a robbery of the state! Everyone, including the church, received export quotas, ”a former employee of Soyuznefteexport is indignant. This is not an exaggeration: the financial and economic administration of the Moscow Patriarchate was indeed a co-founder of one of the exporters - the company International Economic Cooperation.

The first Russian private trader was Urals Trading, founded by immigrants from Soyuznefteexport. One of the founders of Urals was a Soviet intelligence agent and former employee of the Swedish representative office of Soyuznefteexport, Andrei Pannikov. Thanks to his connections, Urals has become a prominent player in the market, says a former company employee. For example, an acquaintance and business partner of Pannikov was Vladimir Putin's friend Gennady Timchenko, who in 1997 founded the Gunvor trading company.

Pannikov himself told Forbes that he participated in the creation of Lukoil and allegedly personally sought to issue the company an export license from the Ministry of Foreign Trade. This is not surprising, says Pannikov's former business partner: the circle of workers in the Soviet oil industry was very narrow, and everyone knew each other well. Urals even allocated a room to Lukoil in the Zvezdnaya Hotel near VDNKh (the company had a Moscow office there), in the early 1990s it was used as an office by Lukoil President and former USSR Deputy Minister of Oil and Gas Industry Vagit Alekperov.

Vagit Alekperov

It was Urals that first exported significant volumes of Lukoil oil. Other major buyers were Taurus Petroleum and Western Petroleum. They were affiliated with each other, one trader told Forbes. Taurus belonged to the American Benjamin Pollner and bought such significant volumes from Lukoil that market participants suspected him of ties with the Russian company. According to Businessweek, Pollner was one of the Rich boys - traders from the circle of legendary Mark Rich, a longtime friend of Soviet foreign trade leaders. In the early 1990s, his Marc Rich + Co (now Glencore) was one of the largest buyers of Russian oil.

“The devil knows what happened in Russia. Everyone threw each other, ”recalls the Russian oil trader. By purchasing Russian oil not directly, but through traders, foreign refineries reduced their risks. This also suited the oil industry: traders could provide a 90% advance payment. But there was one catch: Western banks were reluctant to finance Russian supplies. An exception was the French BNP Paribas, with whom Taurus collaborated. Contact with the Geneva branch of the bank was also established at Urals, says a former employee of the company: the financial director of the oil trader came from Paribas. Urals was a Lukoil trader for about three years, but Lukoil's exports were tied to Urals employees for a long time.

Urals assistants

A phone call on the eve of the new year, 1998, found Oleg Yakovitsky, director of special projects at Lukoil Europe, at the pre-holiday preparations. The commanding voice of his boss Valery Golovushkin was heard in the receiver: "Get ready urgently, we are flying to Romania!" “Eh, all to dust,” Yakovitsky sighed, packed his suitcase, said goodbye to his family, and soon flew to Bucharest on an official “Lukoil” plane. There the oilmen agreed to purchase the Petrotel refinery and immediately flew to the Bulgarian Burgas, where the sale of Neftohim Burgas was being prepared. There were several applicants for the largest refinery in the Balkans, but the Bulgarians assured Lukoil representatives that the plant would go to them: “Because you have a larger plane than other buyers.”

In the 1990s, his own plane worked flawlessly for plant directors, a former Urals employee confirms. The trick with the plane was hardly a secret for the former head of the Danish branch of Urals and a native of Soyuznefteexport, Valery Golovushkin. In 1994, he became head of Lukoil Europe, Lukoil's London office. Its main task was to exclude Western intermediaries from exports.

At the turn of the 1990s and 2000s, all the world's oil majors acquired specialized trading units. Russian oilmen followed their example. Functionally, these were foreign firms, on which the margin from the sale of their own oil settled, says one of the oil traders: "As a matter of fact, it was a capital withdrawal." A simple scheme made it possible to earn an additional $ 1-2 per barrel, says a Forbes source. Subsequently, for such schemes, YUKOS was defeated and its two main shareholders went to jail.

Lukoil went further than competitors and in 2002 announced the centralization of export supplies at one subsidiary. It was Alekperov's idea, says a Lukoil employee. And in many ways it was a necessary measure. Western investors criticized Lukoil for selling oil to its offshore subsidiaries at discounted prices. Because of this, the parent company, whose ADRs were traded on the London and Berlin stock exchanges, lost about $ 1 billion in 2000-2003, complained the head of the Hermitage Capital fund, William Browder.

To consolidate exports, the Swiss Lukoil-Geneva was chosen, which was renamed Litasco in 2000 (Lukoil International Trading and Supply Company). Switzerland has very loyal tax legislation, although formally the country is not considered an offshore and is located in the very center of Europe, oil traders explain. The restructuring coincided with the departure from Lukoil of one of its founders and export manager Ralif Safin. Dmitry Tarasov took his place in the status of the first vice-president of Lukoil. He worked at Soyuznefteexport, and in the early 1990s he headed the Finnish Urals division (Timchenko also worked there). His former Urals colleague Golovushkin, who until the early 2000s was more visible in the expansion of Lukoil in Eastern Europe, moved from London to Geneva and became head of Litasco.

Window to the world

The company's own trader cost the company dearly, says a person close to Lukoil: investments in Litasco's capital and guarantees to banks amounted to about $ 7-10 billion. When Litasco was created, the task was set for the ROI (profit-to-investment ratio) to reach 15% , but it didn't work out right away. And it was also not possible to quickly close all of Lukoil's exports to Litasco. In 2005, the trader sold 87% of the oil exported by Lukoil, in 2011 this share remained approximately at the same level. Now Lukoil indicates that Litasco carries out all of Lukoil's deliveries outside of Russia.

In addition to selling its own products and supplying oil to Lukoil's foreign refineries, Litasco was faced with the task of selling foreign oil in comparable volumes. In 2004, third parties accounted for 28% of Litasco's trade, in 2008 - 40%, and two years later already 52%. In 2015, the ratio was 51 to 49 in favor of Lukoil. A trader is a “window into the world” for Lukoil, says the Litasco website.

Litasco has significantly increased the volume of trade with third parties thanks to a new strategy that was adopted in 2007, said Valery Subbotin, vice president of Lukoil, in an interview with Oil of Russia magazine. It consisted in connecting all foreign offices of Lukoil to trade (at that time there are 17 branches and representative offices around the world). “They began to optimize flows, sell when profitable, use arbitrage,” one of the market participants lists. According to him, due to trading operations, Litasco's margin could have grown by $ 2.5-3 per barrel.

Valery Subbotin

There is also another version. At first, the trader grew due to the huge volumes of Lukoil, for which he did not have to fight. Large volumes helped to save on freight and loans, and even then Litasco was able to offer the market good prices.

A person close to Lukoil connects the successes of Litasco with a Bulgarian with Iraqi roots, Gati Al-Dzheburi. In the early 2000s, he was deputy to two Bulgarian ministers - energy and finance. And then Golovushkin called him to Litasco - cFO... In 2005, Golovushkin went up for promotion, becoming the vice president of Lukoil for supplies and sales, and Al-Jeburi took the chair of the head of Litasco.

The Bulgarian decided to conquer new sales markets. In China, Litasco first had to dump, recalls one of the oil traders: to reduce either its trading profit or the profit of oil refineries producing fuel oil. All such decisions were approved in Moscow and agreed upon for a "monstrously long time," says Forbes' source: corporate processes inside Lukoil resemble a major russian ministry... Gati Al-Jeburi not only saw new sales markets, but also managed to break through the Lukoil bureaucracy.

As a result, Litasco's sales grew from 2005 to 2010 by 37%, to 125 million tons, while Lukoil's exports grew by only 6%. In 2015, the trader sold 165 million tons of oil and petroleum products. Litasco's revenue is not disclosed, but from the financial statements of Lukoil under IFRS, it can be concluded that in 2015 it was at least $ 63 billion, and in 2016 - $ 68 billion.

The role of personality

At the beginning of 2011, a collapse occurred in the Latvian port of Ventspils. Ventbunkers terminal tanks were filled to capacity with fuel oil. Because of this, 1,700 tank cars with cargo have accumulated at the railway entrances to the port, awaiting unloading. The fuel oil accumulated in the terminal belonged to Litasco, which refused to transfer it to tankers, Ventbunkers reported. Litasco explained that, due to the terminal's fault, the fuel oil has deteriorated and no longer meets the contract requirements. There could be another reason for the conflict: Ventbunkers was going to replace Litasco with another trader - Mercuria Energy. As a result, the port was unblocked only a few weeks later through the mediation of the Minister of Railways of Latvia.

This story is extremely atypical for a trader, assures one of the interlocutors of Forbes: Litasco, like the parent company, is not risk-averse and tries not to get involved in conflicts. In the mid-2000s, within a few years, Gunvor became the main trader of Russian oil, and Lukoil accepted the rules of the game, although they caused inconvenience to its trader. Litasco and Gunvor had “not so many customer crossings”, the inconvenience was caused by the practice adopted at that time in ports: with rising prices, Gunvor tankers were loaded more often, and the loading window for other traders shifted. And vice versa, says a Forbes interlocutor: "The oil sank - Gunvor ships are put at the end of the queue, and the rest are pushed in."

Lukoil's owners are very clear about the boundaries of what is permissible, and this is one of the secrets of their success, Forbes interlocutors admit. In 2016, Lukoil was one of the contenders for Bashneft, because these two companies have close ties. Bashneft-Polyus (25% from Lukoil) produces oil at the fields named after Trebs and Titov (reserves - 140 million tons of oil), and Litasco sells it. In 2015, according to Forbes, a Lukoil trader exported 1.4 million tons of oil from the joint venture for $ 535 million, in 2016 - almost 2.2 million tons for $ 634 million. But events took a different turn: “Bashneft "Went to Rosneft. “We will assume that it has fallen into good hands,” Leonid Fedun, vice president of Lukoil, commented on this deal.

Leonid Fedun

After the purchase of Bashneft, Rosneft began to restructure its trade policy, and contracts with Lukoil were the first to come under the knife. On November 1, 2016, the contract for the supply of Lukoil oil to the Bashneft refinery and the return supply of oil products to Litasco were terminated. They also wanted to revise oil supplies from Bashneft-Polyus. But while Rosneft cannot refuse the services of Litasco, two oil traders say: the only economically feasible point of shipment - the port of Varandey - belongs to Lukoil. Therefore, supplies to Litasco continue, but since the beginning of the year the prices have been recalculated, says one of Forbes' interlocutors. He does not name the new price, but notes that it has become more profitable for Rosneft. The price formula has not changed, a source close to Lukoil notes: "What Brent was predicted, that price was included in the contract." Litasco will not comment on business or trade issues, a spokeswoman said. Lukoil did not respond to Forbes request. From the commentary of the Rosneft press service, it can be understood that the contract has become more profitable: Rosneft saw an opportunity to optimize sales channels and, as a result, increase economic efficiency sales, and existing agreements are aimed at maximizing profits.

Vagit Alekperov did not dare to openly conflict with Sechin. In general, he rarely interferes with his work. trading company... An oil trader close to Lukoil recalls such a case. Due to the hostilities in northern Iraq, all local oil is discharged into a common pipe. This decreases the quality and, as a consequence, the cost of raw materials that Litasco exports from the Iraqi West Qurna-2 field. But the purchase prices did not take this into account, and the trader began to lose money. Alekperov had to personally negotiate with the leadership of the Iraqi state oil company SOMO on a more fair price. As a result, they managed to reduce it by $ 13. “The role of personality in history must be respected,” notes Alekperov's acquaintance. - trading is a relationship and again a relationship. "

Sergei Titov

In contact with

Original material: "Forbes"

The position of the first vice president of Lukoil was taken by Alexander Matytsyn, who previously served as the senior vice president of the company for finance.

Sergey Kukura has been appointed advisor to the president of the company, previously he was the first vice president for economics and finance.

Vadim Vorobyov was transferred to the post of senior vice president for supplies and sales, and Rustem Gimaletdinov, who previously headed Lukoil-Ukhtaneftepererabotka, was appointed vice president for oil refining, petrochemistry, gas processing. Alexei Ivanov, who previously worked as the head of the technology and production planning department, became the general director of Lukoil-Ukhtaneftepererabotka, the press release says.

Valery Subbotin completes work in central office companies. Previously, he was the senior vice president of supply and sales at Lukoil. Subbotin takes over as chairman of the board of directors of Lukoil's international trader - Litasco, Interfax reported at the end of December, citing two sources familiar with the situation. A Reuters source then linked Subbotin's departure with the consequences of Lukoil losing the fight against Rosneft for a controlling stake in Bashneft.

Lukoil worked closely with Bashneft, he really wanted to buy it, but “ Rosneft ”, It turns out, got across the road, and after the deal began to immediately reshape the oil sale scheme, naturally, not in favor of Lukoil. There can be no good relationship here, ”one trader told the agency. Subbotin was responsible at Lukoil for building trade policy companies in the domestic market and in the supply of oil for export.

In October 2016, 60.16% of Bashneft's voting shares were bought by Rosneft. She immediately had questions about the work of Bashneft - in particular, about how the company buys oil from Lukoil. From November 1, the contract for the supply of Lukoil oil to the Bashneft refinery and the return supply of oil products to its subsidiary Litasco was terminated. Another contract for the sale of oil from Bashneft-Polyus was extended for a year, Interfax reported in early January.

In mid-January, the president of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov announced that Rosneft and Lukoil had reached an understanding. “I understand that the new shareholder of our joint project [Rosneft] had some doubts. They conducted an audit and we re-signed all agreements, all contracts for the sale of oil, for the development of projects<...> I am sure that both shareholders are interested in the dynamic development of these projects. Today we have no misunderstandings both in the development of projects and in the sale of the products of the Trebs and Titov project, "he said in an interview with Interfax.

The Lukoil company has reduced oil production in Russia by almost 10%. Vagit Alekperov competently planned the "move"?

Rumors that co-owners of Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov and Leonid Fedun, are planning to withdraw assets from Russia, find new indirect confirmation. At the end of last year, the oil company reduced oil production by 8.6% compared to 2015 - to 91.992 million tons.

Earlier, the president of the company actually announced the shutdown of about 200 oil wells, arguing it simply - this is the policy of Russia and OPEC. They say, they agreed to reduce production.

True, before that Lukoil made it clear to the Russian authorities that it does not want to cut production for free and expects to receive compensation from the state ... For example, at the end of last year, the company asked the Ministry of Energy to provide export duty exemptions for the Pyakhyakinskoye field.

Benefits - Russian, assets - foreign

A little earlier - this time the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade - gave the go-ahead for the extension of the preferential export duty for the Yuri Korchagin field, which is also being developed by Alekperov and Fedun's company.

The most profitable for Lukoil are its Caspian projects. It is not hard to guess that one of the highest tax incentives in Russia, which Alekperov “bargained for” for the Alekperov company, played an important role in this - a low severance tax rate and zero export duty.

Meanwhile, the owners of the oil company are gradually transferring their investment interests outside of Russia. So, at the end of February this year it became known that Lukoil intends to invest about $ 1.5 billion in the Iraqi West Qurna-2 oil field during the year. This information was confirmed by the president of Lukoil Alekperov himself.

The businessman confirmed the day before that Lukoil, of which he is the largest shareholder (about 25%), is actively considering "foreign directions". “We have increased our presence in Belgium and Holland, where there is an oil refinery. We have a very strong presence in the Balkans and continue to strengthen our presence there. We intend to intensify our activities in Turkey, because our factories are oriented towards this market, ”said the entrepreneur.

But, as people familiar with the situation say, Alekperov pays most attention to the United States - as a country where in the future you can move not only your billions, but also your business.

The commodity market players state that the owners of Lukoil have learned how to competently manage assets under the jurisdiction of different countries... Experience first. In terms of competent taxation, it will come in handy in case of "moving" from Russia. And it will be much more difficult for Russian law enforcement officers to get hold of businessmen if the business is registered, say, in the British Virgin Islands, where Lukoil's subsidiary Lukoil Overseas is registered.

But both the benefits and the bulk of the raw materials, Messrs. Alekperov and Fedun, are so far pumping out of Russia, so national legislation, at least formally, must be complied with. At first, the offshore Lukoil Overseas had an office in Moscow, from which, in fact, all management was carried out, but formally it was called only a representative office. Then the company moved to the United Arab Emirates.

It is likely that such craftsmen as the owners of Lukoil could competently and without attracting too much attention to gradually "store" their assets abroad.

"Goodbye, unwashed Russia ..."

Earlier, the media have repeatedly tried to calculate how many owners with a Russian "residence permit" in Lukoil. It turned out something like this: about 50% of Lukoil shares belong to foreign investors, another fifth is controlled in one way or another by Mr. Alekperov, about 10% - by Vice President Leonid Fedun.

In addition, it became known that 11% of the oil company's shares were received by two Cypriot offshore companies - LUKOIL Employee Limited and Lukoil Investments Cyprus Ltd.

However, most of the production of hydrocarbons still falls on Russian deposits. About 88% of reserves and 83% of hydrocarbon production.

The company can safely begin to be called foreign, not national. But meanwhile, the owners of Lukoil still receive tax breaks in Russia ...

Meanwhile, the top management of the oil company is gradually moving to the United States.

In particular, personnel reshuffles were made at the oil company this year.

Valery Subbotin, who served as the company's senior vice president for supplies and sales, is leaving Lukoil. The top manager should soon be appointed to the position of the head of the board of directors of the international trader of the oil giant - Litasco.

In certain circles, they say that Mr. Subbotin's move to the United States for permanent residence is not far off. His relatives have been living outside Russia for a long time, the top manager himself applied for US citizenship and managed to get a green card.

Experts do not exclude that soon most of Vagit Alekperov's business, along with himself and his top managers, will also end up in the United States.

The company's money is rumored to be actively flowing abroad last years... For example, in 2014 alone, Lukoil could withdraw about $ 5 billion to offshore companies.

Did they steal from themselves?

The verdict came into force last month former employee a subsidiary of Lukoil in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Lukoil - Western Siberia. Allegedly, security guard Denis Krivorot allowed members of an organized group who had managed to steal oil "in large quantities" to the company's oil pipeline.

However, there is another version. The illegal pumping of "black gold" from oil pipelines could well have been carried out with the knowledge of the Lukoil management.

By the way, Alekperov's company is in second place among Russian players in terms of the number of oil spills, which inevitably lead to environmental damage. At the end of 2014, fuel leaked from the company's oil pipelines 3114 times.

Environmentalists who are trying to protect nature from oil dealers are dealt with simply - with the help of criminal prosecution.

In the same Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a trial is underway over environmentalist Mikhail Karateev, who was accused of stealing oilfield equipment belonging to the LUKOIL-Western Siberia company.

The defense argues that criminal prosecution is a tough response from those “interested” in stopping the activist's activities. Nevertheless, even the official departments admit that Lukoil's structures harm the environment more than what is legally required. In February, Prirodnadzor initiated administrative proceedings against Lukoil-West Siberia's subsidiary, Uraineftegaz.

Mr. Alekperov, together with Fedun, are pumping "currency" wealth from the Russian bowels, regularly receiving all conceivable benefits, but they prefer to pay taxes, apparently, abroad. It is possible that the businessmen will be able to fulfill the plan for pumping out before the Russian law enforcers take on them.