"Transneft" suspended negotiations with "Summa” on the Novorossiysk port. Sergey Vodolagin quoted by Gazeta.ru

Arrest of Magomedov brothers, co-owners of “Summa”, led to suspending of negotiations on the sale of the group's share in Novorossiysk commercial sea port (NCSP) to Transneft. The latter proposes to elect a representative of the state as a Chairman of NCSP supervisory board "in these circumstances". The port shares value fell on Tuesday at the Moscow stock exchange by 1.7%.

Transneft, which on parity basis with “Summa” owns 50.1% of NCSP shares, declared on April 3 that it suspended negotiations with the group to buy port shares, following the arrest of Magomedov brothers.

 

"In connection with the recent events, “Transneft” suspended negotiations with the “Summa” group. At the same time, we continue to have an interest in increasing the share in the share capital of the Novorossiysk port", - said a company representative to Gazeta.ru.

 

Magomedov brothers were detained on Friday, on Saturday they were arrested until May 30. They are suspected of embezzling "particularly large amounts of budgetary funds, including those allocated for the construction of infrastructure and energy supplies."

   

If the transaction with the "Summa", which was approved by the FAS, was completed, Transneft would receive 60.6% of the port under control. The purchase amount of $ 1.8 billion which was mentioned in press, was called the fruit of "a rich imagination of people who are not familiar either with the course of negotiations or with the negotiated parameters of the transaction" by “Transneft” representatives.

 

Sergey Vodolagin, Westside law firm partner, agrees that in a situation where the owners of the seller company are under investigation, a state-controlled buyer is unlikely to rush into the deal.

   

 After all, if the deal takes place, the seller will be able to quickly withdraw money abroad, where they will be beyond the reach of Russian authorities, whereas if the asset being sold - the shares of PJSC “NCSP” - will remain the property of the “Summa” group, then, for example, arrest may be imposed, the lawyer explains.

   

“Transneft” representatives say that at the moment they see "their main task in ensuring stable operation of the port". On April 13, an extraordinary meeting of NCSP shareholders will take place with the election of a new supervisory board.

    

"In the current situation, Transneft came out with the initiative to elect a representative of the state as a chairman of the supervisory board," representatives of the company said.

More detailed at https://www.gazeta.ru/business/2018/04/03/11705012.shtml?updated 
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