Sberbank analysts say Gazprom's new pipelines are a wash for everybody but the contractors

Two analysts at Sberbank CIB have reportedly concluded that the main beneficiaries of Russia’s export gas pipelines to China (the “Power of Siberia”) and Europe (“Nord Stream 2” and “TurkStream”) are the contractors hired to build the pipelines, not Gazprom or its shareholders. These contractors include Stroygazmontazh (owned by Arkady Rotenberg) and Stroytransneftegaz (half of which is owned by Gennady Timchenko and his family).

Sberbank CIB’s analysts say Gazprom’s capital investments in these projects are unlikely to turn a profit, highlighting that the “Power of Siberia” is expected to cost $55 billion — 5.5 times more than a proposed alternative pipeline.

Last fall, Sberbank CIB removed from its report on Russia’s oil and gas sector a series of critical remarks about Rosneft and its CEO, Igor Sechin, redacting a whole paragraph titled “Rosneft: We Need to Talk About Igor.” Sberbank said the original report violated its “quality standards.”