Biz People

Gas firm 'near bankruptcy'

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko (below) said on Wednesday the state energy firm Naftogaz, in technical default on a $500 million Eurobond according to sources, is close to bankruptcy.

The new premier, a former gas magnate who has long accused the country's energy sector of corrupt practices, said after a meeting with new Naftogaz head Oleh Dubyn that a government commission will investigate the company's activities.

But she promised any steps taken would not disrupt supplies to Europe - Russia sends most of a quarter of Europe's gas through Ukraine - and that the government would take responsibility for any debt Naftogaz is unable to repay.

"I was shocked by the information given to me by the new Naftogaz head. The company is facing bankruptcy," Tymoshenko said after meeting Dubyn, whom she appointed after taking over as premier in December.

"The company's credit-debit liabilities show that the financial health of the company is not ensured."

She also said the country's underground reserves did not belong to Naftogaz but were in the hands of "criminal shady structures".

Resources boom to continue

The resources boom that saw oil hit the $100 barrier for the first time on Wednesday and propelled gold to a record is in no danger of petering out, says Jim Rogers (above), a long-time, high-profile commodities bull.

The American investor says he is convinced that a decade or more of gains lies ahead for the sector, even after oil hit the triple-digit mark that he has predicted for years, although a weakening US economy could dampen some metals such as tin.

"I sound like a broken record, but it ain't over yet. It's got a long way to go," he said yesterday by telephone from Singapore.

(China Daily 01/04/2008 page17)