[2] Russneft was founded in September 2002 by Mikhail Gutseriev, a Russian businessperson and philanthropist, with support from the Swiss company Glencore.

[3] It included early oil-production operations in West Siberia, Ulyanovsk, the Saratov and Penza regions, Udmurtia, and the Komi Republic.

Some of Russneft's assets were transferred to the oil-processing holding companies Forteinvest and NK Neftisa, both owned by Gutseriev.

[5] In November 2006, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal proceeding related to operations of three RussNeft subsidiaries: Nafta-Ulyanovsk, Ulyanovskneft and Aganneftegazgeologiya.

According to the investigation, in 2003-2004 Aganneftegazgeologiya exceeded its permitted output in developing the oilfields at Zapadno-Mogutlorskoye and Roslavlskoye and received ₽5 billion in excess profit.

Similar violations were discovered by the General Prosecutor's Office during investigations of Nafta-Ulyanovsk and Ulyanovskneft; managers of the companies exceeded quotas allowed by the subsoil licenses.

On February 12, 2007, Gutseriev was charged with violating Part 2, Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Tax Service submitted eight claims to Russneft's former and current shareholders in April 2007.

[14] On May 4, 2017, Gutseriev was charged with illegal business activity in violation of paragraphs a and b of part 2, Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

[15] A number of experts said that one reason for pressure on Gutseriev was his refusal to sell Russneft to a state company for US$1 billion in 2006.

[20] He sold his stake (37.15 percent) in August 2021 to Vemonar Holdings (a Cypriot company owned by his brother, Sait-Salam Gutseriev).

[27] In autumn 2006, Russneft signed a cooperation agreement with the Azerbaijani company SOCAR on the Zyh-Govsani oil project in the southern Absheron Peninsula.