Transneft board to examine investment program revisions at December 13 meeting
MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - The board of directors of Transneft will examine the question of revising the investment program for 2014 and the period to 2018 at a meeting on December 13, the oil pipeline operator said in a statement.
As previously reported, the board approved the investment program for 2014 and the period to 2018 in mid-September. It includes programs for expanding the trunk oil pipeline network and the trunk oil product pipeline network. The investment program for those years will total 500 billion rubles, including 348 billion rubles to develop trunk oil pipelines and 152 billion rubles to expand the trunk oil product pipeline network.
The bulk of the investment will be spent on projects in Siberia and the Far East: Zapolyarye-Purpe, Kuyumba-Taishet, upgrading the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline to provide for exports of up to 30 million tonnes of oil a year to China, and upgrading the Taishet-Skovorodino section of ESPO to 58 million tonnes a year.
However, next year's freeze on the tariffs Transneft charges, combined with a hike in property taxes, necessitates a review of the program and potential reduction in investment in the five-year period.
The board will also consider the issue of divesting the company's stake in Avtovazbank.
Transneft announced a request for proposals to select an independent appraiser to value its Avtovazbank stake: 26 million ordinary shares or 1.565% of bank charter capital.
Avtovazbank was the 133rd biggest Russian bank by assets as of the end of the third quarter of 2013 according to the Interfax-100 ranking compiled by the Center for Economic Analysis. Shareholders include bank board chairman and Rosskat CEO Nikolai Taran, deputy board chairman Vera Prokopenko and board member Yelena Kazymova, each with 8.7% of shares. PromTekhSteit LLC has 30%.
The board will also approve the makeup of the management board.
In addition, the board must approve the report on Transneft's financial condition through the first nine months of 2013 and estimated budget fulfillment in 2013 on December 16.
The board will also look at the issue of the 2014 budgets for Transneft and the entire group, the targets for gauging the company's economic performance, and set the starting (maximum) price in the tender for select an auditor for 2014 and the projected consolidated IFRS accounts for the first quarter of 2015.