The story
Founded by Government of Russia in 1993.1
Surgutneftegas was established in 1994 as a joint-stock company. In 1995, the company won a tender for huge oil fields in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug. The company also gained permission to build an export terminal in the Batareynaya Bay of the Gulf of Finland and a pipeline between it and the Kirishi oil refinery.
Surgutneftegas was widely believed to be behind Baikalfinansgrup which acquired YUKOS' main oil production facility Yuganskneftegaz at a controversial auction in 2004.
From Wikipedia’s article on Surgutneftegas, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5