ASSETS OF a Dublin subsidiary of Russian state-controlled oil conglomerate Rosneft were frozen by the courts in Ireland, England and Jersey last year as part of a dispute with Russian resources company Yukos, according to accounts just filed.
The Dublin company acts as a holding firm for a number of significant Rosneft operations, including an exploration joint venture with the Chinese on the coast of Sakhalin Island.
The freeze on Rosneft International Ltd’s assets was lifted in April 2010, a month after it was imposed, when an English court was told the Rosneft parent in Moscow had agreed to provide certain securities, the accounts state.
Rosneft International made a profit of $22.4 million (€15.5 million) in 2009 and paid $7.5 million in tax, according to accounts.
The company paid tax in Russia and Ireland and received double taxation relief. In 2008, it recognised additional Russian tax charges and penalties arising from operating activities derived through the Russian Federation and the company’s representative office in Moscow.
In 2009 it reduced this amount by $3.9 million following successful appeals in the Russian courts, according to the accounts.
Rosneft International loans money which it provides to subsidiaries and affiliates in the oil and gas industry, according to the accounts. The bulk of its income comes from interest payments.
Although the company’s after- tax profits compare well with those of the previous year ($8.1 million), the size of its operations reduced significantly during 2009. Debtors fell to $259.1 million, from $573.5 million.
As well as providing loans, the Dublin entity acts as a holding company to a number of subsidiaries. These firms are engaged in oil and gas development projects, oil trading and oil asset acquisitions and the provision of air transport services to Rosneft executives.
The company had only one employee during 2009, according to the accounts, with this person being paid $214,000.
Two aircraft operating subsidiaries, Shelf Support Shiphold Ltd and Skyline Asset Management Ltd, are based in Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands respectively.
An oil-trading subsidiary based in Dublin, Trumpet Ltd, had a turnover of $4.3 billion in 2008, the latest year for which accounts are available. Its profit margins are slim as it only produced a pre-tax profit of $2.8 million. The company had no employees.
Another Rosneft International subsidiary, Rubio Holdings Ltd, is based in Cyprus and is involved in oil tanker construction. Another Cyprus subsidiary, Oxoil Ltd, holds shares in petrol retail operators in the Moscow region.
One of Rosneft International’s joint ventures, PetroChina-Rosneft Orient Petrochemical Company, is an oil refinery business based in China. The company is also engaged in developing petrol stations across China.
Another China-Rosneft International joint venture, Venin Holding Ltd, is the operator of the huge Sakhalin-3 oil and gas project in Russia’s North Pacific coast.
Rosneft International has a registered office at the offices of FGS, in Molyneux House in Dublin. The company’s secretary is a secretarial services provider in Jersey. It banks with Deutsche Bank International, Jersey.
The company’s directors are John Griffin, consultant, with an address in Limerick, Anton Kozhinov, Moscow, and Nikita Tolstikov, Moscow. Mr Kozhinov is the chief financial officer of Moscow-based Rosneft.
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