The oil company, the world’s biggest, is openly opposing the bill which is to regulate the use of foreign-made equipment in Russian shelf projects. According to Rosneft, Russian legislators will significantly complicate the development of complex shelf projects in the Russian Arctic if they adopt the bill. The draft law states that at least 70 percent of all equipment in Russian shelf project should be produced by Russian companies.
In a letter to the State Duma Committee on Energy, Rosneft Vice-President Larisa Kalanda expresses skepticism towards five of twelve points in the bill. According to Kalanda, Russian manufacturers will not be capable of delivering equipment for all stages in complicated shelf projects. Instead of punishing shelf operating companies unable to meet the 70 percent requirement, there should rather be introduced tax benefits for the companies which manage to use the Russian-made equipment, she argues, Izvestia reports.
Head of the State Duma committee Ivan Grachev says to the newspaper that he understands the concerns of the company and that he might consider to lower the required 70 percent stake of Russian companies to 50 percent.
Rosneft is together with Gazprom a monopoly company on the Russian shelf. The company controls more than 40 offshore licenses and is in the process of exploring several major license areas in Russian Arctic waters.
