Gazprom Neft attempted a merger with Yukos that would have created Russia's largest oil company, YukosSibneft. The first attempt in 1998 failed over a management dispute, while second time round Sibneft's shareholders called off the deal in November 2003 after the federal government cracked down on Yukos despite the process already being well under way. In September 2005, Gazprom bought 75.7% of Sibneft's shares from Millhouse Capital (Roman Abramovich’s investment vehicle) for US$13.1 billion in Russia's largest corporate takeover. In May 2006, Sibneft was renamed Gazprom Neft. In 2006 Alexander Dyukov was elected as CEO of the company and in 2008 he
Central Energy Italian Gas Holding Central Energy Italian Gas Holding Central Energy Italian Inc is a gas distribution and trade company. It is a part of the Central Energy ], a company related to Gazprom. A deal between Italian Eni and Gazprom picked CEI as a partner delivering gas to Italy. Investigations by members of the Italian parliament revealed that Bruno Mentasti-Granelli, who is known as a close friend of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, owns 33 percent of CEIGH through two companies, Hexagon Prima and Hexagon Seconda. The deal was denounced due to the spreading scandal. Italian parliament blocked the contract, accusing Berlusconi of