Zee Beam News

December 2005 Aton Capital News - Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans has turned down Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer of a top job at Russian state oil firm Rosneft, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Evans, a close friend of U.S. President George W. Bush, told the Journal that criticisms about possible conflicts due to a friend of Bush's joining the company had nothing to do with his decision. He told the paper that family and business commitments prevented him from taking the offer. Evans said Bush knew of the offer and did not offer an opinion on whether he should accept it, the Journal reported. It said Evans suggested that Putin had not made a concrete job offer but had asked whether he would consider taking "a position of serious responsibility at Rosneft". Russia's President Vladimir Putin said last week that Rosneft was keen to hire top foreign managers as the government is preparing the company for an initial public offering next year and is keen to boost the firm's image. Rosneft became a major producer last year after having bought a key unit of oil firm YUKOS, Yugansk, at a forced state auction to recover back taxes from YUKOS. Many analysts have said Rosneft bought the asset at below market price, and YUKOS has promised lengthy litigation, alleging theft and saying the sale was part of a Kremlin campaign to punish its main owners for political activities. YUKOS's founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky is currently serving an eight-year sentence for tax evasion and fraud. Khodorkovsky has regularly met with members of Bush's administration, including Evans, to discuss broadening energy cooperation between Russia, the world's No. 2 oil exporter, and the United States, the world's largest oil consumer. Analysts have said Rosneft, which wants to raise up to $15 billion in an IPO next year, will not drop its attempts to hire a respected Western manager. "We believe at least one investor-friendly appointment to a key post is likely as the company prepares for its IPO," Aton brokerage said in written research. But some analysts said Russia could offer a position which would not be as high as Rosneft's chairman, a post currently occupied by Igor Sechin, one of the most influential men in Putin's administration. Some of Russia's top state-run companies have sought to employ former officials with political weight to work on major projects. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will become chairman of the North European Gas Pipeline (NGEP), which will supply Russian gas directly to Germany.