Sberbank obtains permission to conduct collateral transactions with Neftisa assets, as required to transfer ownership to Russia

MOSCOW. Feb 7 (Interfax) - Sberbank has obtained permission to conduct collateral transactions with stakes in several subsidiaries of Neftisa Oil Company, and President Vladimir Putin on February 7 signed the corresponding order that is published on the portal of legal acts.

This specifically involves Oil and Gas Industry Technologies LLC, Sibintek Intensive Tech Enterprise LLC, YurskNeft LLC, and UntygeiNeft LLC [all part of the Neftisa enterprise], as well as Sladkovsko-Zarechnoye LLC.

A source familiar with the situation told Interfax that the document is necessary in order to implement the process to transfer to Russian jurisdiction the stakes in the listed companies that were previously pledged to the lending institution. Permission will allow Sberbank to retain the right of pledge even after completion of re-domiciliation.

Interfax has sent a request to Sberbank.

Entrepreneur Mikhail Gutseriev founded Neftisa Oil Company in 2008. The group of companies unites more than 20 mainly mining enterprises, whose respective areas of activity cover several large Russian regions, including the Samara, Novosibirsk, and Tyumen regions, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District (KhMAD), the Perm Territory, and the Udmurt and Komi republics.

Gutseriev also founded Sladkovsko-Zarechnoye, formerly part of the Safmar Group. Sladkovsko-Zarechnoye conducts geological exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the Orenburg Region at the Koshinskoye, Sladkovsko-Zarechnoye, and Yasnopolyanskoye oil fields, respectively.