Yesterday's news of the auction of a major piece of Yukos
brought word of an surprise winner: the Baikal group.
As usual I appeal to Jérôme, our resident expert on energy finance,
to illuminate, if possible, these obscure potentates. Like many others,
I have only the BBC triage: Baikal is either
1) a front for the expected winner of the auction Gazprom
2) a front for the Chinese national oil company
3) the instrument of another oligarch (who has a lower and less anti-Putin political profile than Khodo).
I need hardly state that having an unknown surprise winner to
an auction of this size and strategic importance is grist for the conspiracy theorists' mill, and, more and more, I tend to count myself among that heretical fraternity..

Yes Hannah, now even NPR reports that the "auction" was rigged, lasting 5- to 8-minutes, interrupted by a phone call, and with only one bidder.

Ho apologies required nor expected for joining the conspiracy club.

Here's how paranoid I am:

My first thought on hearing the news on NPR was that it was Halliburton or some subsidiary of the Carlyle Group. The fruits of those still-secret energy talks Cheney held right after taking office. At this point, I'd rather see China and Russia forging ties.

Hannah,

According to stratfor:

Yes, the BBC reported it this morning. I assume that
the lucky few who made up Baikal Finans got their 2%
brokerage fees (or more?). One does have to prepare for retirement after all.

That "guest" was me, Hannah. I'll take the opportunity
to note the clear convergence between Russian and American
"political economy": crooks in high places screw the proles.
The only difference is that the average Russian is well aware
of the process.

A CIA approved retelling of the sale, replete with details,
may be found at http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=407&issue_id=3181&article_id=2369029,
a site whose sponsor is presided over by James Woolsey (ex DCI) together with a board of directors that can only be characterized as blue-ribbon and blue-blooded. Caveat lector, obviously.

Hannah, I am collecting various items of information on the Yukos fracas and hope to post a more comprehensive reply in the not too distant future.

The problems is that the Putinocrats are currently fighting between themselves for the control of both Rosneft and Yugansk, and nobody knows how it will end up.

As always, check articles by Yulia Latynina, she usually writes in the Moscow Times and is always well informed and quite cynical about all Russian politicla and business processes.

See this one: http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/12/08/007.html (which requires a subscription, I'll post it in full when I get it from my other computer...

Thanks Jérôme. I look forward to seeing your take
on this. As you have probably noticed, I prefer this sort of
nitty-gritty detailed discussion of specific topics to the
"systematic restructuring of contemporary society" threads.
The latter surely have there place, and can be thought-provoking,
but seem to me to be rather ethereal. Your posts are
concrete and very illuminating.

#20
Moscow Times
December 8, 2004
Goodbye Oligarchs, Hello Feudal Capitalism
By Yulia Latynina

Russian judge stays Bush inaugural