"Our business is to drill, drill, and drill," — Sergei Bogdanchikov, president of RosneftAfter buying up Yukos assets, Rosneft became Russia’s top oil company. By 2020, Rosneft president Sergei Bogdanchikov wants to see it among the world’s three largest. But not through acquisitions — through organic growth. — Do you regret going ahead with the public IPO aimed at retail investors? The other day, one of the minority shareholders filed a lawsuit against Rosneft demanding disclosure of the details of its deals with Gunvor. — No, we do not regret it. As for the export sale of oil and petroleum products, this is handled exclusively by top-tier companies: Shell, BP, Total, Vitol, Gunvor, and so on. These are companies with multibillion-dollar turnover. Selection is carried out strictly through tenders. We provide as much information as possible and publish tender terms online, but of course we are not entitled to disclose the terms of commercial contracts. Still, no one has challenged our sales system. — Are you acquainted with Gunvor co-owner Gennady Timchenko? — Yes, I am. — Do you think political backing and his acquaintance with Vladimir Putin helped his company become one of the leaders in this market? — I believe it is simply a strong team of traders. And that is not just my opinion: I rely on the views of specialists working in Russian commodity trading, including at our company. Judge for yourself: do you really think Shell, Total, and others are throwing the game when Gunvor wins a tender? Continued Bogdanchikov told me the same thing about Gunvor yesterday: they poached all the good traders, assembled a fleet of tankers, and are now beating everyone in fair competition.