Vladimir Putin hands over oil company to Chechnya at request of Ramzan Kadyrov

The Russian President has signed a decree to transfer shares of the "Chechenneftekhimprom" Company from the federal ownership to the authorities of Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 3, 2015, Ramzan Kadyrov asked the Russian President to hand over to the Chechen authorities the "Chechenneftekhimprom" Company, owned by the "Rosimuschestvo" (Federal Agency for State Property Management) and managed by the "Rosneft" Company.

According to the President's decree, the "Chechenneftekhimprom" should be transferred to the ownership of Chechnya within two months.

The "Rosneft", which controls the "Grozneftegaz" in addition to the "Chechenneftekhimprom", estimated the cost of the controlling stake in the Grozny company and the rest of its property in the region at 12.5 billion roubles. However, Ramzan Kadyrov called the amount too high.

In April 2016, Ramzan Kadyrov and Igor Sechin, the director of the "Rosneft", agreed that the "Rosneft" would not sell its regional assets to the Chechen authorities and would not build an oil refinery in Grozny, but would remain in the republic and begin investing in its social infrastructure. Experts questioned by the "Caucasian Knot" noted the agreement was mutually beneficial for the parties. According to the experts, the main factor, thanks to which the agreement was reached, was the depletion of oil reserves in Chechnya.