4 Oct 2018 19:41

New shareholder in New Stream Group to be determined before year-end - Mazurov

MOSCOW. Oct 4 (Interfax) - The buyer of Igor Makarov's 50% stake in New Stream Group, the owner of the Antipinsky Refinery, will be determined before the end of the year.

"We will try for this year," the owner of the other 50% in New Stream, Dmitry Mazurov, told reporters.

Asked whether the new shareholder might be New Stream President Andrei Zokin, who is the former vice president of Gazprombank , Mazurov said: "There are other options, but that is the only working one at present."

The media reported previously that Igor Makarov, the founder of the Areti Group (formerly Itera), was seeking to sell his company's 50% stake and that Zokin was a potential buyer.

A source close to one of the parties told Interfax that Makarov was obligated to pay $200 million in cash to buy out the stake held by the other co-owner of Antipinsky Refinery and invest in development of the company, which was not done. As a result, Areti lost the right to manage New Stream.

At the annual meeting of shareholders in Vikay, in which Mazurov and Areti each own 50%, and in which the principal creditor, Sberbank , holds a golden share, the decision was made to reelect the boards of directors of New Stream and Antipinsky Refinery.

Antipinsky Refinery has capacity to process 9 million tonnes of crude oil a year. The refinery, New Stream's chief asset, is owned by Mazurov (80%) and Nikolai Yegorov (20%). In September the plant commenced commercial production of Euro 5 gasoline in grades Ai-95, Ai-92 and Ai-80. It also produces diesel fuel, petroleum coke and liquefied petroleum gas. New Stream also owns the Mariisky Refinery and the Kommandit Service oil terminal in Murmansk region, as well as oil production licenses in Orenburg region.