Anti-monopoly Ministry approves Yukos merger with Sibneft

The Ministry for Anti-Monopoly Politics and Support of Entrepreneurship (MAP) has approved the highly-publicized merger between major Russian oil companies Yukos and Sibneft.

According to the Ministry press service, all interested parties who would like to receive additional information about the decision must send a written request to the Ministry.

Earlier this week information agencies quoted Minister Ilya Yuzhanov and distributed information that the Ministry planned by the end of the week to make a decision in the merger deal between Yukos and Sibneft. However, on the next day Yuzhanov called on the media not to hurry with its conclusions and analyses related to the merger of the two Russian oil companies. 'I already stated my opinion in relation to how the merger corresponds to Russian law. We are not commenting further in the media on the decision in specific business deals. Therefore, all interviews, discussion and commentary in the media will have a place in the process only after the signing of the conclusion in the decision,' said Yuzhanov.

The official merger deal took place on April 22, 2003. Sibneft shareholders agreed to sell their company for USD 3 billion and a 29% stake in the merged company. Participants in the merger said that the newly merged company with the equivalent of a reserve of 19.4 billion barrels of oil and gas would become the largest Russian oil company and the fourth largest oil and gas producer in the world (2.3 million barrels per day).

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