As it turns out, the Russian government owns the pipeline system through which virtually all Russian oil exports must pass, allocating access to the system by means of quotas among domestic oil companies. what if a competitor manages to gain sufficient influence with certain political decision makers to siphon off part of LUKOIL's quota? Although LUKOIL will never forget its own complete privatization, the Russian government still owns some of its domestic competitors, and has often bestowed on its firms preferential treatment in various matters.