who control the big oil companies and banks, and have a long record of ripping off minority shareholders?
That’s a bit of a risk. At the same time, you’re getting some critical mass with [the oligarchs] looking at each other to make sure the others are not abusing shareholders. If [oil major] Surgutneftegaz does something bad, then [oil major] Yukos suffers, too. [Nobody] wants to lose gains because somebody else is misbehaving in Russia and giving the place a bad reputation. Q: Yukos shares have had a spectacular ride over the last 18 months, following corporate-governance reforms made by Chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky. How much better can things get for the stock? A: It’s not the cheapest oil company or the cheapest company at all in Russia. But it may be the best one. Our calculation shows that Yukos shares at the end of 2005 should be worth $25. Now they’re at $10. Q: Gazprom, Russia’s biggest company, is being overhauled by its new chief, Alexei Miller. Does it look like a good play? A: Gazprom isn’t a viable structure. It’s too big to be managed. It has more hydrocarbon reserves than
