[Goldfisch]

Tuesday, August 24, 2004. Page 6.

Mysterious Buyer Eyes LUKoil Sale

The Moscow Times The state's 7.59 percent stake in LUKoil, slated for sale this fall, appears to have a new potential buyer.

David Guggenheim, a U.S. businessman, has approached the government expressing an interest to purchase the stake, Vedomosti reported Monday.

The stake is due to be sold before the end of next month, although the government has yet to make a formal announcement of the auction and the starting price, which could well exceed $2 billion.

ConocoPhillips has been widely seen as a favorite to acquire the last chunk of LUKoil still owned by the state.

The Federal Property Agency, LUKoil and ConocoPhillips all declined to comment on the newspaper report.

Guggenheim could not be found Monday. Vedomosti reported that Guggenheim may be related to the famous art patron family.

But a spokeswoman for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, which also handles the Guggenheim family's public relations, said Monday that David Guggenheim was not a member of the family.

Lyudmila Grossman, who introduced herself as a representative of David Guggenheim, confirmed in a telephone interview that he is interested in the stake. Guggenheim is a prominent investor who avoids the limelight and has not invested in Russia before, she said.


Grossman declined to name other investments by David Guggenheim.

"We will go public about our intentions, but not now," she said.

According to Vedomosti, a number of government bodies, including the Economic Development and Trade Ministry and the Industry and Energy Ministry, received letters from Guggenheim offering to buy the stake in LUKoil.