Russian energy merger on the rocks.....Interesting but only a blurb.

[KoKo]

Russian energy merger on the rocks

Plans in Russia to create the world's fourth largest oil and gas company have reportedly been suspended.

In a statement, the Russian oil company Sibneft says it and oil giant Yukos have jointly suspended plans to merge.

The statement does not explain the decision, but it comes amid a government inquiry into Yukos, which has seen the jailing of its top shareholder and former chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky on embezzlement and tax fraud charges.

A Yukos spokesperson later denied it was a joint statement without giving any further explanation.
(No other news about it on the ABC site, though.)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s999846.htm

[brainshrub]

1. This is big news

This means that Yukos will probably keep selling oil in dollars & not Euros, the way Sibneft is.

This looks like the Bush Administration has been working behind the scenes. Something very big just happened.

[loudsue]

2. I thought it was Pooty-poot that was pushing to switch to Euros?!

How does the merger stoppage have an impact on the Euro/Dollar thing?

:shrug: I thought Pooty was sort of "blackmailing" the bushes with his Euro thing. It had something to do w/ shrub not acknowledging that he would pay Pooty the $12/Billion Iraq owed Russia...and the fact that Russia has been selling nuclear power plant materials to Iran, and the US was trying to stop THAT trade, as well. I didn't realize the oil company merger had more to do with it.

Whassup??

:kick: