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(From The Moscow Times)
Rosneft on Monday entered the race for Yukos gas assets to be sold off this week, filing a surprise bid that threatened to disrupt Gazprom's long-crafted plans to scoop up the assets for itself.
Rosneft, through a new wholly owned subsidiary called NeftTradeGroup, will bid Wednesday for a lot that includes Yukos' 20 percent stake in Gazprom Neft and two gas production units, ArcticGaz and Urengoil, spokesman Nikolai Manvelov said.
He declined to comment further on the bid, but Vedomosti cited an unidentified source close to Rosneft's board of directors as saying that if it won the auction, the company would resell the 20 percent stake to Gazprom.
Gazprom will not directly take part in the auction, but has linked up with other participants to make proxy bids, a source close to the auctions said.
Six companies have come forward with plans to bid in the auction, the source said. Applications closed Monday, and the list is most notable for the lack of any well-established firm.
In addition to NeftTradeGroup, the bidders included Unitex, Group Invest, Sever-Zapad Invest and gas trader Trans Nafta, Vedomosti reported Monday. EniNeftegaz, a subsidiary of Italy's Eni, will also bid in the auction, the newspaper said.