OREANDA-NEWS. Iraq has agreed with a Russian company to develop a gas field in the south of the country, the agreement has not yet been finalized, said Tamir Gadban, the country's oil minister. “This is a field in Iraq, block 17. This is neither Rosneft nor Gazprom Neft”, the minister told reporters. It's about Stroytransgaz Oil, he added.

Last week, the Iraqi business media reported that the Iraqi Ministry of Energy began negotiations on a field development contract with the Russian company Stroytransgaz, which is under US sanctions. Only Stroytransgaz owned by Gennady Timchenko falls under this wording.

Stroytransgaz, controlled by Timchenko, owns 100% of Cyprus STG Oil & Gas Ltd, follows from SPARK. In Russian databases, there is a connection between Stroytransgaz and Stroytransgaz Oil, however this refers to an earlier period. In 2002, two companies with the same name Stroytransgaz-Oil were registered in Russia. Until 2008, one Stroytransgaz owned 25.21%, it follows from the SPARK data, but it was liquidated in 2013. The second, with an authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles, was established by Roland Isaev and Yuri Saveliev. The current owner of this company is unknown.

Timchenko bought Stroytransgaz in 2008, at that time it was a major contractor for Gazprom. After passing under the control of a businessman, the company reoriented to the construction of infrastructure - roads, stadiums, airports and energy facilities. The revenue of Stroytransgaz in 2018 amounted to 27 billion rubles. The company hasn't previously been seen participating in oil and gas projects. But recently, it has been actively developing in the Middle East, in particular in Syria: Stroytransgaz is building a gas processing plant there, and is also engaged in the extraction and export of phosphates.