WHEN Energy Frontier, an enormous tanker, glided into Tokyo Bay on April 6th from Sakhalin Island, she was not just carrying the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a problematic Russian venture, under a deal signed 15 years ago.
Why venture into problematic material at all?
The transaction with Rosneft, the oil firm which is 75%-owned by the Russian state, will involve BP selling its stake in the profitable but problematic TNK-BP joint venture it forged in 2003 to Rosneft.
The transaction with Rosneft, the oil company in which the Russian state owns a 75% stake, could be confirmed Mondayand will involve BP selling its stake in the profitable but problematic TNK-BP joint venture it forged in 2003 to the state-controlled company.
Deductions like this are problematic because early-stage venture investing does not happen in an efficient market.
The trans-Atlantic joint venture was more problematic because of the competitive dominance it would enjoy on certain routes.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Le Monde last week that it was the structure of the venture that was problematic, rather than who was in control of it.
Joint ventures are always problematic as conflicting agendas bog down decision making.
Commercial ventures are considered problematic because they often do not document and research the site in accordance with academic norms, potentially resulting in the destruction of archaeological sites and the loss of contextual information necessary in the interpretation of the archaeological record.
While the seed stage is gradually being addressed by programmes like Seedcamp, SpringBoard, StartupBootcamp and others, the stage just before venture capital kicks in remains problematic.
