Kommersant said the delay could reflect Russian authorities' uncertainty over who stood to benefit from the May 11 deal, when the previously unknown company offered nearly five times more than the opening price for the bankrupt oil firm's 22-story office building in Moscow, outstripping state-backed oil giant Rosneft.
Originally, the Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) threatened to block the deal if Prana failed to clarify its ownership structure within 14 days following the auction, and refused to approve the purchase of other Yukos assets by a company apparently affiliated with independent oil giant LUKoil two weeks ago over "lack of transparency," the daily said.
Kommersant cited experts who said the service was not willing to take responsibility for the deal and was waiting for clear instructions from the Kremlin.
"The FAS is just killing time," said Andrei Gromadin, an analyst with MDM Bank. "Normally, such things are settled before an auction. If a company is allowed to participate, that means it is backed by an influential structure."
Maxim Shein, an expert with BrokerCreditService investment, echoed this view: "The FAS is apparently afraid to make a decision. The competition for the asset is obviously not over, and the service is waiting for Kremlin-connected bodies to adopt a final decision on a beneficiary."
The watchdog said Tuesday its inquiry on Prana's ownership structure remained unanswered, as the company had not been found at its registration address. Prana and its President Vladimir Yesakov, who was reported to hold 1% in the company, with the other stock belonging to an offshore firm, have not been available to the press.
Explaining its more lenient approach to Prana, the watchdog said the acquisition of the Yukos headquarter building would not affect competition on the oil market, unlike an earlier purchase of Yukos's former sales assets in southern Russia by a LUKoil affiliate, the newspaper reported.
Kommersant earlier tracked Prana's link to a Gazprom subsidiary and Yesakov's involvement with a project run by a member of Gazprom's board of directors. But the energy giant has denied any role in the purchase.
The press spokesman for the Yukos bankruptcy administration told Kommersant that if the deal was eventually cancelled, the building would be offered to Rosneft, which snapped up much of Yukos assets in previous liquidation auctions, or would be auctioned off again.
Once Russia's largest oil producer, Yukos has been carved up in a series of auctions seen by many as a Kremlin-backed campaign to punish its founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for his political ambitions, and to regain control over the crucial energy sector.
