W. SIBERIAN UNITS PLAN FOREIGN CONTACTS

Western Siberia's oil producing administrations plan to establish direct contacts with foreign firms in a campaign to attract more hard currency investment. Oilmen in Russia's largest petroleum producing region say there is no lack of investor interest in western Siberia. But they complain that the small number of contracts signed shows that potential investors are still wary of risking their money in western Siberian ventures.

Feb. 2, 1993

2 min read

Western Siberia's oil producing administrations plan to establish direct contacts with foreign firms in a campaign to attract more hard currency investment.

Oilmen in Russia's largest petroleum producing region say there is no lack of investor interest in western Siberia. But they complain that the small number of contracts signed shows that potential investors are still wary of risking their money in western Siberian ventures.

More than 100 foreign business delegations visited western Siberia's most productive oil association, Nizh-nevartovsk, last year. But, Moscow's Financial Izvestia newspaper reported, only three modest sized contracts were signed.

Unlike ultranationlist politicians in Moscow, western Siberian oil personnel believe foreign investment and participation in reviving the region's sagging oil production are the only ways by which collapse of their fuel and energy complex can be avoided, Financial Izvestia said.

Yuri Timoshkov, head of the Nizh-nevartovsk Oil and Gas Association, predicted production by his enterprise will fall to 500,000 b/d in 1993. That compares with 1.58 million b/d in 1990 and 2.58 million b/d in 1985.

"We have repeatedly appealed to the government and parliament in Moscow for assistance, but our letters are not answered," Timoshkov declared. "In any case, we have abandoned our desperate cries for assistance from those sources."

Financial Izvestia said Sergei Lavrov, Russia's deputy minster for foreign affairs, has promised to help the nation's regions deal directly with western business interests.