Biography:
Born in 1957 in the village of Bogdanovka, Northern District of the Orenburgskaya Oblast. In 1976 he graduated from Buguruslan Oil College; in 1981 - Ufa Oil Institute with a degree in technology and complex mechanization of oil and gas fields, obtaining a diploma with honors and major in Mining Engineering.
In 1981, Bogdanchikov was directed to Sakhalin. He worked in the oil and gas industry of Sakhalin region, held the positions of an operator of the underground repair of wells, a senior engineer-technologist in the oil and gas department (in 1981), head of the department for reservoir pressure maintenance, the head of the central engineering and technology service NGDU (oil-and-gas production department) “Severneftegaz" in the association "Okhaneftegazdobycha" of the All-Union Industrial Association" Sakhalinmorneftegazprom" (in 1983-1984), as well as the shop manager for oil and gas production association" Okhaneftegazdobycha" (in 1984-1985).
From 1985 to 1988 Bogdanchikov worked as an instructor in the department of industry of the Sakhalin regional committee of the CPSU, engaged in the oil industry. In 1989-1993 he worked as the head of NGDU “Ohaneftegaz”. In 1993 he was appointed Director General of the production association "Sakhalinmorneftegaz" of the state enterprise "Rosneft"
In 1995 Bogdanchikov was awarded the Order of Merit for the courage and efficient organization of rescue efforts for rectification of the consequences after a devastating earthquake in the village of Neftegorsk, Sakhalin.
In 1997, Bogdanchikov became vice-president of state oil company Rosneft. He was entrusted to be a regional coordinator of the company activities, located in the Sakhalin region and Khabarovsk Krai. Under the Decree of the Government of Russian Federation № 1479-r dated October 14, 1998, Bogdanchikov was appointed president of OAO NK "Rosneft".
Bogdanchikov was awarded the Order of Merit, IV degree (2002), he was awarded the title of" Honorary Oilman" and "Honored Worker of the Oil and Gas Industry of Russia". He is the author of several scientific researches; Ph.D., member of the International Academy of fuel and energy complex, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and Academy of problems and development of Moscow and Moscow region.
In September 2006, Bogdanchikov headed the Department of energy at the International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy in MGIMO.
Bogdanchikov has two sons - Alexey and Evgeny. According to various reports, he owned ZAO "Synergetiya" and OOO "League Petroleum” - fully or partially. According to media reports in February 2006, Alexey Bogdanchikov served as Deputy Head of Investor Relations in OAO Rosneft, and he was subsequently appointed as Acting Head of Department. In January 2010, Alex left Rosneft, and a month later headed the department of business development in the company of Leonid Mikhelson “Novatek”.
Sources: www. rosneft.ru, «Kommersant» № 31 / C (4331) on 24.02.2010
Dossier:
The first negative publications about Sergey Bogdanchikov appeared in 2002. Then, due to the policy of "Rosneft" hundreds of minority shareholders "Purneftegaz" and "Krasnodarneftegaz” were devastated. The shareholders complained of the issue of shares that Bogdanchikov held without the consent of minority shareholders, that the management of Rosneft dilutes their share of the business, that Rosneft gets more revenue by acquiring oil at artificially low prices, and the margin goes to the state and Sergey Bogdanchikov personally; and Rosneft is buying shares of its subsidiaries in order to sell them to third parties by providing them with concessional delays.
Source: "Novaya Gazeta” № 51 dated on 17.07.2003
In connection to the conflict with minority shareholders more illegal activities Rosneft became surfaced in the press in the late 90's. In particular, they wrote the company had transferred its rights to sell 1.5 million tons of Iraqi oil under the program “Oil for food" to a private company "Petrokvorum”, and later the CIA was looking for the money among dozens of offshore, while reportedly they ended up in secret accounts of Saddam Hussein. The media exaggerated the following story: in 1998, President of "Group Alliance" Zia Bazhayev won a competition on selection of external manager of Rosneft, but Sergey Bogdanchikov postponed the conclusion of a contract with the Alliance, then Zia Bazhayev resigned "Rosneft”, and soon died tragically in a plane crash. They said that Bazhayev became involved in politics of oil companies and messed with many, including the management of Rosneft.
Source: "Novaya Gazeta” № 51 dated 17.07.2003
In 2002, Rosneft and Sergey Bogdanchikov sued the analysts of the investment company "OLMA" for making assessments according to which Rosneft dropped almost twice in its price from 1998 to 2002 with an active assistance of the company management. The Arbitral Tribunal found the claim by Rosneft fair and ordered OLMA refute the conclusions of the incompetence of the management. Bogdanchikov resigned any financial claims to OLMA.
Source: www. english.aglob.info
Sergey Bogdanchikov indebted to Boris Berezovsky. They wrote that Berezovsky set Bogdanchikov as head of Rosneft through organizing a provocative work against the ex-president Alexander Putilova beforehand.
Source: "Novaya Gazeta» № 51 dated 17.07.2003
July 8, 2003 it was reported in the press that Bogdanchikov claimed to the General Prosecutor's of disappearance of 19% stake in Eniseyneftegaz from the accounts of Anglo-Siberian Oil Company (ASOC) owned by Rosneft; that stake was transferred to an offshore structure Maastrade Limited in the interests of Yukos. According to Rosneft, Yukos formed the transaction retroactively, so that it coincided with the transition of ASOC into a state-owned property. The letter by Sergey Bogdanchikov addressed to Prosecutor General's Office became the basis for charges against the head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his further detention. The reason of the conflict occurred to be a corporate dispute between Yukos and Rosneft for the Vankurskoe field. The press published the print negotiations of Bogdanchikov, deputy head of presidential administration Igor Sechin and political consultant Stanislav Belkovsky. In one of the printouts Bogdanchikov and Sechin discussed an unsuccessful attempt to draw Mikhail Kasyanov in the fight against Yukos. In another one, Belkovsky agrees with Bogdanchikov on the terms of payment for the PR campaign against Yukos. Subsequently, Sergey Bogdanchikov carried out a forceful takeover of Eniseyneft from Yukos by entities of Yuri Shafranik - Chairman of the RF CCI on energy strategy and the development of TAC .
Sources: "Novaya Gazeta» № 51 of 17.07.2003, www.gzt.ru from 16.07.2003
The memo to the head of the Effective Policy Fund Gleb Pavlovsky, published in "Russky Journal" on September 2, 2003 (headed by him), the responsible persons for the emergence of "the Yukos case were named - Sergey Bogdanchikov and Igor Sechin were among them. The press said that earlier at a reception of President Vladimir Putin, the head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky told Putin about corruption in Rosneft in the presence of Bogdanchikov. Other sources said that at this reception there was a dispute about the legality of the privatization of the northern fields, in which Putin took the side of Rosneft.
Source: «The Washington Post» of 05.08.2003, "Russky Journal” of 02.09.2003, “Moscovskie Novosti” № 49 dated 24.12.2004
The press explained Igor Sechin’s interest in the conflict of Sergey Bogdanchikov with Yukos which was due as: Sergey Bogdanchikov was linked with the head of Mezhprombank, Sergey Pugachev - he created a joint venture with Mezhprombank - SP"Russian Coal", the same bank gave credit for an oil project in Chechnya which was important in political terms for Rosneft. Mezhprombank is listed in the team "Petersburgers", among whom Igor Sechin is.
Sources: "Novaya Gazeta» № 51 dated 17.07.2003, www. english.aglob.info
Together with Sergey Veremeenko - the head of "Mezhprombank”, partner of Rosneft in the holding “Russian Coal” - Sergey Bogdanchikov organized bankruptcy of "Dalvostugol”. Since it was impossible to establish control directly, the partners signed a memorandum with the Governor of the Amur Region Leonid Korotkov and created a new company based on the assets of "Dalvostugol", but as part of their own holding. Office of the Ministry of Taxes and Levies of the Amur region acted as the initiator of bankruptcies; the four federal agencies - Property of Basic Research, Ministry of Energy and the Russian Federal Service for Financial Recovery and Bankruptcy (FSFR), opposed that, as a 40% stake of the coal miners belonged to the state. As a result, Aleksandr Zinchenko was appointed temporary manager in "Dalvostugol”; for 3 months he had managed to increase the accounts payable of "Dalvostuglya" up to 1 billion rubles. This debt was no longer owed to the state, but to a lender related to "Mezhprombank.
Sources: "Novaya Gazeta» № 51 dated 17.07.2003, www. english.aglob.info
As the media often mention, Sergey Bogdanchikov specializes in ransom of "muddy" assets belonging to former and current officials. In 2002, Rosneft announced its intention to buy 27% stake in Kuzbassrazrezugol belonging to Transrail (the company of ex-Minister of Railways Nikolay Aksenenko) knowing that more than 12% of the shares was owned by the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company and it would plead for them. In 2003, Sergey Bogdanchikov acquired the company "Sevneft" from the structures associated with the former First Deputy Finance Minister Andrey Vavilov. That asset was problematic - in 2001-2002, there were more than 20 judgments regarding the right of "Sevneft" to use deposits of Val Gamburtsev. Despite this, Rosneft paid for it 622 million dollars, thus overpaying nearly twice as its real value. Just as an example of hardly fair games by Bogdanchikov, journalists mention the displacement of the company Conoco out of "Polyarnoe Siyanie" by Rosneft
Source: www. english.aglob.info
Sergey Bogdanchikov was accused of an aggressive policy of doing business. In 2003, Rosneft owned a controlling stake in Purneftegaz, "Krasnodarneftegaz" and a refinery in Tuapse. During the cooperation with Rosneft, all these companies turned into a "dummy": after the appropriation of a controlling stake, Rosneft began the procedure of absorption - the company gave Rosneft their oil export quotas, reduced wholesale prices for it, passed the promising fields, thereby reducing profits of more than 80%. In addition, Rosneft controlled several projects on the Sakhalin shelf, including the Veninsky block. March 19, 2003 Sergey Bogdanchikov managed to obtain a license from the Ministry of Natural Resources to conduct a geological study of the block. Apart from Rosneft several other mining companies applied for the license, but all were rejected without explanation. Some of the companies out of those trying to participate in the auction complained of severe pressure from officials later on.
Source: "Novaya Gazeta» № 28 dated 21.04.2003
In 2005, Director of Newport Capital Alexander Solomakhin, which owns 1.5% stake in Komsomolsk refinery, accused Sergey Bogdanchikov of violating rights of investors in the forthcoming consolidation of assets and of artificial undervaluation of "Komsomolsk Refinery”. According to him, after "Rosneft" had entered the management of the enterprise, its revenue fell by more than 2-fold, while its profit declined by 6 times. All this occurred against a background of growth in oil refining volumes. Solomakhin claimed that Rosneft was deducing the assets of the enterprise intentionally - Komsomolsk refinery regularly sold its assets to Rosneft at a residual value price, and then took them back for a lease.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 21.12.05
A scandal surrounded the tour of Sergey Bogdanchikov to London for the Russian Economic Forum in 2003 - he was not allowed to cross the border and was forced to return to Russia. According to some data, Bogdanchikov went abroad without a visa. According to another data - the head of "Rosneft" provoked a conflict with a customs officer because of his ambitions. Bogdanchikov himself explained the incident as follows: Customs officers seized his papers to make copies, copied a 120-page document containing information on the progress of projects on joint ventures with British Petroleum - Sakhalin-4 and Sakhalin-5, and negotiations with the EBRD about the allocation of the company credit for the development of oil and gas field Prirazlomnoye. Bogdanchikov pointed to the involvement of official London in the incident.
Sources: Kommersant »№ 57 (2660) on 03.04.2003," Gazeta "on 03.04.2003
September 14, 2004 - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov announced plans of absorption of Rosneft by Gazprom, which were approved by President Putin. The new subsidiary of Gazprom was called Gazpromneft; it was to have all the oil assets of Rosneft and Gazprom merged in it. Bogdanchikov was against the merger – he did not want to lose autonomy. He wrote a letter to Putin, in which he questioned the proposed scheme of the transaction. The scheme of merger of Gazprom and Rosneft caused a great conflict - the head of presidential administration Dmitry Medvedev insisted on a complete takeover of Rosneft by Gazprom, while his deputy Igor Sechin called for the establishment of oil monopoly on the basis of Rosneft. In October 2004, Bogdanchikov was forced to lead Gazpromneft, which was to become a purchaser of assets of Yukos, but Bogdanchikov escaped absorption. The reason was the intervention of Yukos trying to prevent the expropriation of Yuganskneftegaz in favor of the newly formed Gazpromneft. December 14, 2004 - Yukos filed a statement of reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas (Houston), and the court issued an prohibition against the participation of Gazpromneft in the auction of Yuganskneftegaz. In 2 days after the issuance of the U.S. court decision Gazpromneft was sold to a certain structure, and Rosneft managed to retain legal and financial autonomy.
Sources: “Kommersant” № 37 (3121) on 03.03.2005, www. english.aglob.info, www. newsru.com of 17.12.2004
In 2004, Sergey Bogdanchikov appealed to the Prosecutor General with a complaint against Akhmad Kadyrov, the Chechen president. According to Bogdanchikov, Kadyrov endangeres Grozneftegaz, a subsidiary of Rosneft, and destroys the system of control over the oil and gas assets of the republic. According to Bogdanchikov, in 2003 Kadyrov initiated the property lien of all the projects by FGUP “Chechenneftekhimprom" which Grozneftegaz had rented. At the same time, in violation of the law, part of the property was sold at auction - including the linear production-control service (LPCS) "Ischerskaya", which had been used in a cycle of continuous production of OAO "Grozneftegaz" for the collection and transportation of oil. According to the head of Rosneft, the deal was understated more than tenfold. In January 2004, all structural units of Grozneftegaz were arrested for the subsequent sale at an auction. Bogdanchikov asked the Attorney General to apply to the Arbitration Court with a lawsuit to invalidate the transactions on purchase and sale of property.
Source: "Kommersant» № 35 (2874) on 27.02.2004
Sergey Bogdanchikov was said to be a grand strategist in 2005, when he bought three-quarters of the assets of Yukos. According to many sources, the deal was organized by Adviser to President Vladimir Putin, the head of the board of Rosneft, Igor Sechin. It was conducted through a front company. December 3, 2004 - Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service № 1 in the Tverskaya region registered OOO “Makoyl” as a legal entity, and December 6, 2004 - OOO “Baykalfinansgrupp”. December 19 - OOO “Baykalfinansgrupp” bought shares of Yuganskneftegaz for 9.35 billion dollars- representatives of Baykalfinansgrup at the auction was the head of the organizational structures of Surgutneftegaz Igor Minibaev, and from the side of financial management -Valentina Komarova and Maria Klimovskaya. December, 23 - AO Rosneft announced the purchase of "Baykalfinansgrupp”. On the same day a record of registration of certain changes in the constituent documents and changes of data about legal entities was made in the founding documents of "Makoyl"; February 28, 2005 - OOO "Makoyl" began the process of its elimination as a legal entity; in June 2005, Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service № 1 in the Tverskaya region registered the termination of the legal entity "in connection with its liquidation by the founders."
Source: «The New Times» on 05.03.2007
The name of Sergey Bogdanchikov was mentioned in the press in connection with the purchase of the company “Baykalfinansgrupp” with assets of Yuganskneftegaz by Rosneft. Head of Rosenergo and a member of the board of directors of Rosneft, Sergey Oganesyan said then that Rosneft bought the company for the money of the Chinese CNPC as a prepayment for the future oil deliveries to China. Then Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin said that Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs took $ 6 billion in Chinese banks, and then ranked them to Rosneft. Then, the Finance Ministry press service said that Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs was not involved in the transaction and its chairman Vladimir Dmitriev had repeatedly said that the bank had no relation to the acquisition of Yuganskneftegaz. After that, Rosneft said it had obtained the credit not to pay for the shares of Yuganskneftegaz, and other strategic projects. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also issued a denial of all the information, saying that it had not given any credits for the purchase of shares.
Source: Vedomosti № 38 (1320) on 04.03.2005
In May 2005, Yukos filed a suit in the Moscow Arbitration Court, demanding to invalidate the bidding, at which "Baykalfinansgrupp” acquired the shares of Yukos, and to return the shares and pay 324.3 billion rubles of losses. There turned out to be six defendants in the case, including "Baykalfinansgrupp", "Rosneft" and "Gazpromneft”. The lawsuit says that the shares of Yuganskneftegaz went to Rosneft as a result of malicious agreement of parties on the transaction - the de jure auction did not take place because the only real party to it was "Baykalfinansgrupp; Gazpromneft was banned to operate the assets of Yukos by the U.S. Supreme Court. Preparation to the case took the court more than one and a half years, during which Yukos had become bankrupt, and Yuganskneftegaz was merged to Rosneft and was no longer an independent company.
Source: "Kommersant» № 2 (1220) on 10.01.2007
The scandal was accompanied by presentation of subpoena to Sergey Bogdanchikov in the District of Columbia to participate as a respondent in the course of the suit of minority shareholders of Yukos against the Russian Federation. According to the staff of the Supreme Court of England and Wales John Frederick Talbot, he gave the summon in the hands of Bogdanchikov at the International Petroleum Week, which took place in London. That presentation confirmed the testomony given by Talbot under oath, while Bogdanchikov denied having received the summon. A similar situation occurred with co-defendants of Bogdanchikov - Head of Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko and Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin - they also denied handing them a summon, while the foreign custodians sworn under oath they had delivered it. The defendant's party explained its absence at the trial through the refusal to deliver the summon, thus delaying the hearing. In May 2006, the defendants asked the court to dismiss the consolidated request. They referred to the fact that the American court had no authority for such trials, because Yukos is a Russian company, not American.
Source: "Kommersant» № 27 (3358) on 15.02.06, Kommersant »№ 203 (3287) on 26.10.2005
In 2005, Rosneft managed to achiev six times lower tax claims against Yuganskneftegaz - the decision was taken by the arbitral tribunal in Moscow. And in March 2006, Sergey Bogdanchikov bought from Western banks debts of Yukos for 482 million dollars, then Rosneft became the second largest creditor of Yukos (after the tax authorities of Russia) - it gave it the right to participate actively in the process of bankruptcy
Source: www. yukos.ru from 24.12.2005, www.nakanune.ru ot16.03.2006
In 2006Sergey Bogdanchikov took the former editor in chief of the “Parliamentary newspaper” Peter Kotov to the post of head of department of information and advertising in Rosneft; then Kotov had been fired from the publishing house due to the scandal. The conflict with the Parliamentary Newspaper erupted after the publication of material "Lokotskaya alternative" with Kotov justifying the Nazi occupation in there. Then the speaker of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov accused Kotova.
Source: "Vremya Novostey" from 30.11.06
The press regularly publishes information that the company "Rosneft" by Sergey Bogdanchikov uses offshore schemes in its activities. One of the offshores of Rosneft -West Kamchatka Holding B.V. - registered in the Netherlands, a daughter company of Rosneft “Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf» - «Shelf Limited» Jersey.
Source: "Sobesednik" from 22.02.2006
Sergey Bogdanchikov was involved in buying shares of Rosneft;, according to information in the media, he got a package valued at $ 1 million. Bogdanchikov denied information about the ownership of subsidiaries' shares of Rosneft, explaining that he invests in shares of other Russian companies, and declined to name them.
Source: Vedomosti »№ 108 (1635) on 16.06.2006
The conflicting story accompanied Sergey Bogdanchikov in 2007, when a second auction of Yukos assets was held - 9.44% of the shares went to the structure of Rosneft - OOO “Rosneft-development" at a price 12.5% below their market value. There were two bidders- OAO “Samotlneftegaz” and “RN-Development". At the same time, representatives of the Group MENATEP Ltd, controlling 61% stake in Yukos, were not admitted to the auction, although the company had prepared a complete package of documents for participation in the auction. In this connection, it was assumed that the outcome of the auction had already been identified in advance by the Kremlin. This confirms the fact that TNK-BP (subsidiary of "Samotloneftegaz" participated in the auction) had made a deposit of 1.5 billion dollars to participate in the auction and lost. They wrote that by allowing the state oil company to win, TNK BP gained an opportunity to become free from pressure of the controlling bodies. In particular, TNK BP gained an opportunity to keep the license for Kovykta field, which had been planned to be taken away for violating the license agreement for the development of the field.
Sources: Gazeta on 28.03.07, "Vremya novostey" from 28.03.07
In April 2009, Sergey Bogdanchikov again became involved in a scandal that erupted after the publication of material in the Vedomosti newspaper, which reported that the Office of the Board of Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Bogdanchikov had been withdrawn from the RSPP board, in which he had served for many years. The reason for exclusion was failure to pay 300,000 rubles of dues for the year. Several media published another version, according to which Bogdanchikov had not appeared at the meetings for a long time and was removed from the board RSPP at the personal request - on the pretext of lack of funds during the financial recession.
Source: www.rb.ru from 22.04.2009
In September 2009, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Igor Shuvalov announced the State's intention to sell part of its assets to Rosneft. At the end of the month Bogdanchikov spoke in support of the idea of increasing the number of shareholders and assumed the possibility of selling part of the state-owned companies.
Source: "Vremya novostey" on 01.10.2009