Chechnya Picks a Bone With Russian Oil Company

Russia: The State Council of Chechnya wants Russian state-run oil company to transfer its controlling block of shares in Grozneftegaz to the republic.
The State Council of Chechnya has put this suggestion to the Russian government.
The proceeds from the sale of Groznyy oil are being used not on the restoration of the republic but on boosting Rosneft's capital," the chairman of the State Council of Chechnya, Khuseyn Isayev claims.
He added that in the two years only 78 gusher holes were put into operation out of 108.
Out of 12 prospecting holes envisaged in licence agreements not a single one was drilled. Only 10 deposits of 21 are in operation and 80 per cent of the total output comes from only four of them.

"In this connection I believe it is necessary to transfer licences for the operation of oil deposits in Chechnya from Rosneft to the Grozneftegaz open joint-stock company and to suspend the conclusion of a lease agreement on the property of the federal state unitary company, Chechenneftekhimprom, with that company," Isayev said.
Commenting on the suggestion of Isayev, Dmitriy Panteleyev, an official spokesman of the Rosneft oil company noted, in turn, that the company's work in Chechnya is "conducted in strict compliance with the resolutions and decisions of the Russian government".
"Over this time the production of oil in the republic increased from 700,000 tonnes to 1,9m tonnes a year," he said.
As for the proposal on the transfer of the licence for the operation of Grozneftegaz deposits, Panteleyev noted that Rofneft had acquired it in a tender conducted by the former Ministry of Natural Resources.