Friday, July 18 2014

 Armenia's independent experts think that the Levon Hayrapetyan case has nothing to do with the personality of ex-president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.

According to the unspecified data of ArmInfo, the ex-president of Armenia is or was one of the minority beneficiaries of Bashneft. Following the 2008 deal on the purchase of "Sistema" Joint-Stock Financial Corporation's (AKF "Sistema") shares, he joined the Board of Directors of AKF "Sistema" in 2009. By the Russian mass media's data, in June 2012 the ex-president of Armenia increased his stake in AKF "Sistema" from 0,0019% to 0,0032%. He is the chairman of the Committee for Appointments, Rewards and Corporate Management and a member of the Ethics and Control Committee of the OJSC AKF "Sistema"'s Board of Directors. Nevertheless, the independent economic experts polled by ArmInfo refute the rumors about the affiliation of the two businessmen. They also believe that the Levon Hayrapetyan case has nothing to do with the personality of the ex-president of Armenia. 

To note, the notification about the ban on the writing of Bashneft's shares off the bankbook was sent to OJSC AFK "Sistema" by the Russian Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (Rosreestr) OJSC. The official statement of "Sistema" says that the bank restricts the company's transactions with Bashnef's shares, but it does not restrict the company's right to take part in the voting, to obtain dividends and other rights related to the stockholding. Bashneft does not comment on the situation. 

RBC reports that the "Sistema"-owned 71.8% stake of Bashneft is seized by the Basman District Court of Moscow upon the Investigative Committee's petition. The investigators suspect businessman Levon Hayrapetyan of clandestine dealings. According to them, Hayrapetyan might take part in the sale of the Bashkir oil company to "Sistema" in 2008.

Rosbalt reports with reference to its source in the law-enforcement agencies that Levon Hayrapetyan is suspected of having committed crimes stipulated in Articles 160 (misappropriation) and 174 (money laundering) of the Russian Criminal Code. The investigators think that the crimes were committed during the deal on the sale of Bashneft in 2008. Hayrapetyan is supposed to have unsubstantiatedly obtained large interest from that deal. 

Kommersant points out that Bashneft's securities may be frozen for an indefinite period, and this threatens the secondary public offering (SPO) scheduled for autumn. In early July Bashneft applied to the Central Bank of Russia to get a permit to place up to 45 million ordinary shares on the LSE. 
AFK "Sistema" joined the capital of Bashneft in 2005 by acquiring the blocking shares of the Bashkir Fuel and Energy Complex for $600 million (four oil refineries, Bashkirnefteproduct and Bashkirenergo in addition to Bashneft) from Bashkir Capital, whose key owner was Ural Rakhimov, the son of ex-president of Bashkorkostan Murtaza Rakhimov. In 2008 "Sistema" received these companies' control stake for $2 billion. 

The privatization of the Bashkir Fuel and Energy Complex, which was controlled by Bashkorkostan till the late 1990s, has repeatedly caused the authorities' questions. In 2003 the Audit Chamber conducted an inspection and qualified the privatization as "an unprecedented case of misappropriation of assets from federal property". Then Murtaza Rakhimov instructed returning the shares of Bashneft and Bashkirenergo to the state property. An amicable agreement was concluded with Bashkir Capital. A repeated inspection was scheduled for late 2010-early 2011, but its results have not been reported. "Sistema" has always stressed that it is a conscientious buyer of Bashneft.