Gazprom gets new intermediary in Serbia
MOSCOW. April 29 (Interfax) - The campaign to rid Russian gas exports of go-betweens appears to be being waged not on all fronts.
In Serbia there exists the Russian-Serbian Trading Corporation a.d. (RST), which processes Central Asian gas at Serbia's chemical plants on a tolling basis. Gazprom only has a blocking stake in RTS, though.
Gazprom Schweiz AG, operator for the re-sale of Central Asian gas, owns 25.05% of RTS. The remaining interest, according to Dun & Bradstreet, is owned by A-Energy Holding SA , which is registered in Lugano, Switzerland (Gazprom itself prefers Zug). A-Energy Holding's stated aims are "the purchase, sale and management of corporate investments, including in the field of energy and sport, and financing, sponsorship and consultancy" in these areas. The company is headed by Sergei Kutsubin, a local lawyer of Russian descent.
RST's chief executive is Vladimir Sabalin. The Belgrade newspaper Danas says the company has three employees. It says RST supplies gas on a tolling basis to methanol producer Metanolsko-Sircetni Kompleks in Kikinda and the HIP-Azotara fertilizer plant in Pancevo.
RST made $1.8 million net profit in 2011, its first year, in turnover of $110 million, according to D&B. It may have improved on those figures last year, when unexpected changes occurred in the profile of gas supplies to Serbia: 740 million cubic meters of the gas was supplied by Gazprom, and 760 million cu m was from Central Asia and could have been processed via RST.
Russian gas is also supplied to Serbia via an intermediary called Jugorosgas, which is co-owned by Gazprom, Gazprombank via the trader Centrex and the state-owned Srbijagas.
Neither Gazprom nor Gazprom Export provided further information about Russian-Serbian Trading Corporation.
