Analysts on Gazprom-Rosneft merger

All preparations to the merger between Gazprom and Rosneft were held beforehand, as it is imprudent to give large companies 3 months for accomplishing a merger, experts say. According to unconfirmed data, the assessment of assets of Gazprom and Rosneft will be made by the Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) investment bank. It will take DrKW one month to carry out the assessment. It is possible to accomplish the assessment in one month only if all necessary documents have already been prepared, analysts point out. The assessment of YUKOS' major oil producing subsidiary Yuganskneftegaz was supposed to take 1 month.

The government is satisfied with DrKW, therefore it will likely be granted the assessment contract. Earlier DrKW worked in cooperation with both Gazprom and Rosneft. In 1996 the banks was a Gazprom's consultant for an ADS issue worth $430m. It also acted as a Gazprom's loan manager. The bank carried out the assessment of Rosneft in 2002 under an agreement with the Russian government.