Gazprom history 2006 On January 1

On November 14, Gazprom and the Tyva Republic Administration signed an Agreement of cooperation.

On November 15, Mr. Alexander Ryazanov was relieved of his post of Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee due to the employment contract expiration.

On November 15, Gazprom and the Primorsky Krai Administration signed an Accord on gasification of the region.

On November 15, Gazprom and the Sakhalin Oblast Administration signed an Accord on gasification of the region.

On November 16, Gazprom and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug Administration signed an Agreement of cooperation.

On November 20, in Hanoi, within the official visit of the Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin to the Republic of Vietnam, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Tran Ngoc Canh, President & Chief Executive Officer of Petrovietnam (Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation) entered into an Agreement of cooperation. Pursuant to the Agreement, the parties also agreed to promote interaction within promising projects in third countries, including when exploring and developing gas and oil fields. Additionally, the parties are intent on interacting in the sci-tech, staff qualification upgrading and training sectors.

On November 21, a presentation of the Masterpieces of Russian Art. Golden Map of Russia Album took place in Beijing at the official residence of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to China. The Album was first published by the State Tretyakov Picture Gallery in partnership with the Fatherland’s Treasures museum-supporting Foundation and with Gazprom financial backing.

On November 22, the Gazprom Headquarters hosted the Conference for the company’s employees approving the Draft General Collective Agreement of Gazprom and subsidiaries for 2007 to 2009.

On November 23, Gazprom delegation took part in the 8^th Annual Meeting of the Russian-EU Industrialists’ Round Table.

On November 28, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Sergey Bogdanchikov, President of Rosneft, signed the Agreement on strategic cooperation. Pursuant to the accords achieved, Rosneft and Gazprom will develop cooperation in the hydrocarbon exploration, production, transportation and processing sectors; natural and associated gas marketing; electric & thermal power generation and marketing; oil & gas field and power equipment production; development of production capacities and industry’s facilities; SHI-tch, information, ecological, social and staffing support.

On November 30, Byisk (the Altai Kray) hosted the ceremony dedicated to commissioning of the Barnaul-Biysk section of the Barnaul-Biysk-Gorno-Altaisk gas main with branch pipeline to Belokurikha and providing gas supply to Byisk.

On November 30, the Gazprom Management Committee approved the Concept and Regulations for participation of the independent gas producers in the company’s gas transportation system expansion, reconstruction and upgrading.

In November, Moscow hosted the of the National Ecological Prize Awarding Ceremony of 2006 established by the Ecology Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and Non-State Ecology Fund named after Vernadsky. Urengoygazprom, Orenburggazprom and Kavkaztransgaz (Gazprom subsidiaries) were awarded with the Prize.

In November, the Expert RA Rating Agency jointly with RTS Stock Exchange awarded Gazprombank for the Best Annual Report of 2005 in the Information Congestion Nominee. The Bank was awarded for the Best Annual Report in the bank sector. The Banker Magazine awarded Gazprombank as the Bank of 2005 in Russia. Gazprombank joined the top 25 banks due to the asset profitability.

In November, the Fortune Magazine published the rating of the corporate responsibility of the world’s largest companies. According to results of 2006 Gazprom is firstly presented in the rating as the Russian company.

On December 4, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee paid a visit to Egypt. Within the visit Alexey Miller met with Sameh Samir Fahmi, Minister of Petroleum Industry of Egypt, Rashid Mohammad Rashid, Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt, Sherif Ismail, Chairman of EGAS. The parties discussed the prospects of Russian-Egyptian cooperation in the oil & gas sector in the framework of the Memorandum of understanding between Gazprom and EGAS signed in March 2005.

On December 5, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee met with Jean-Francois Cirelli, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gaz de France. The parties discussed issues on cooperation including prolongation of long-term contracts for Russian gas deliveries to France.

On December 6, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee met with Plamen Grozdanov, Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Russia. The parties discussed the prospects for further Russian-Bulgarian cooperation development in the oil and gas sector. Particularly, the parties envisaged issues on switching to market terms for Russian gas transit fee payments via the territory of Bulgaria to the third countries as well as prospects of Gazprom participation in Bulgaria’s energy sector development.

On December 7, within the visit Alexey Miller met with Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan, Rustam Azimov and Ergash Shaismatov, Deputy Prime Ministers as well as Nurmukhammad Akhmedov, Chairman of Uzbekneftegaz Management Committee. The parties examined issues on further cooperation development in the energy sector in Russia and Uzbekistan. Particularly, the meeting agreed on basic issues for feasibility study and the Product Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the Ustyurt fields between Gazprom and Uzbekistan. Within the meeting the parties also discussed issues on Uzbek gas purchase by Gazprom in 2007 and gas transit via the territory of Uzbekistan.

On December 8, the Gazprom Headquarters hosted a working meeting of Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Alexander Torshin, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council under the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and Nikolai Kuklin, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Mari El Republic. The parties discussed progress in implementing the gasification program for Russian regions and particularly for the Mari El Republic. Special attention was paid to the implementation of the Agreement on cooperation between Gazprom and the Mari El Government as well as the synchronized network schedule for regional gasification facilities construction and further gas supply development in the city of Yoshkar-Ola and the Volzhsky District of the Republic.

On December 12, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee conducted a meeting dedicated to the execution of the Shtokman gas condensate field development project. The participants discussed the progress with preparing the projects, issues related to project documentation development and technical decisions for the field development. Alexey Miller made a decision to appoint Sevmorneftegaz as the only customer for designing and construction of the Shtokman field offshore facilities including production complex, pipeline network as well as LNG production complex.

On December 14, a regular meeting of the Regional Policy Commission led by Valery Golubev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee was held. The Commission heard a report on the results of the campaign conducted by Gazprom to sign contracts for gas supplies to Russian consumers. Gazprom core business units were tasked with further endeavoring to boost payments by Russian Federation consumers for gas deliveries; taking measures to cancel existing gas debt, preparing relevant documents subject to approval by the RF Industry & Energy Ministry and Regional Development Ministry as well as the RF regional executive power heads; promoting amendments in the Federal legislation for the purpose of improving the gas supply regulations during peak demand. The meeting pointed to the insufficient preparation by industrial consumers of required standby fuel reserves in the autumn/winter period.

On December 15, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee met with Jeroen van der Veer, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell. The parties discussed Shell’s proposals stipulating Gazprom joining the Sakhalin-2 project.

On December 18, Gazprom delegation, led by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, paid a working visit to the Republic of Bulgaria. Within the visit Alexey Miller met with Georgy Parvanov, President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Sergey Stanishev, Prime-Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria and Rumen Ovcharov, Minister of Economy and Energy of the Republic of Bulgaria. The parties signed a set of documents to further develop the cooperation in the Russian natural gas supply and transit sector. The documents stipulate extending Russian gas transportation contracts up to 2030 via the territory of Bulgaria to Turkey, Greece and Macedonia. The documents identify the mechanism & forms of switching over to cash payments for Russian natural gas transit via Bulgaria. The volume of gas to be transported via Bulgaria during the said period will be 17.8 bcm annually.

On December 19, the solemn ceremony took place in the Arkhangelsk Oblast dedicated to the natural gas supply start up to the Mirny town (the Arkhangelsk Oblast).

On December 19, the Board of Directors approved the progress recorded in 2006 with the implementation of the Gasification Program for RF Regions over 2005 to 2007. The Board ordered to include in Gazprom 2007 budget not less than RUR 20.2 bln (RUR 8 bln up on previous projections) for the Program implementation purposes. Increased investments will enable to include in the Program 5 more RF constituents such as: the Irkutsk Oblast, Altai Republic, Dagestan, Karelia and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

On December 19, the Board of Directors endorsed the Provision on the Annual Bonus System for Gazprom Top Executives and the Provision on the Remuneration of Gazprom Top Executives in Corporate Shares.

On December 19, the Board of Directors agreed on Gazprom participating interest in the Nonprofit Organization Gazpromipoteka Fund and tasked the Management Committee with organizing the work to set up said company.

On December 19, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee met with Francois Cirelli, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gaz de France signed an Agreement to extend existing contracts for Russian gas supply to France up to 2030. The parties achieved an accord to launch supply of extra gas volumes to Gaz de France from the end of 2010 via the Nord Stream Gas Pipeline. The annual gas supply volume would be 2.5 bcm.

On December 20, Gazprom export, the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian state owned gas company Srbijagas inked a Memorandum of Understanding. The MoU fixes the mutual interest in constructing a new gas pipeline via the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Fulfilling the agreements reached by the parties opens the way towards creating alternative gas transmission capacities for sustainable and reliable gas supply to European countries, and gives Serbia the status of a transit country.

On December 20, Gazprom was declared as the hydrocarbon exploration & development tender winner for Block 19 situated in Libya’s Mediterranean Sea offshore.

On December 21, OAO Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell), Mitsui &Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) and Mitsubishi Corporation (Mitsubishi) signed a Protocol on Gazprom joining Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) as the main shareholder. In accordance with the Protocol terms, Gazprom will purchase a 50 per cent stake plus 1 share in Sakhalin Energy for US$ 7.45 bln. To execute the deal each of Sakhalin Energy’s shareholders will decrease its stake by 50 per cent with recompense to be allocated on a proportional basis. As a result, Shell will own a 27.5 per cent stake, and Mitsui and Mitsubishi - 12.5 per cent and 10 per cent of shares, respectively.

On December 22, Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Director General of Gazprom export announced that Gazprom sealed gas supply contracts for 2007 with three companies from the Republic of Georgia. While the contracts with Mtkvari Energetika and the Georgian International Energy Corporation were inked for one year, the contract with KazTransGaz-Tbilisi will run within the first quarter. The total annual gas supply amount will be 1.1 bcm priced at US$ 235 per 1,000 cu m.

On December 25, in the course of its meeting the Management Committee rewarded the winners of the Gazprom science and technology prizes for 2006, and signed the General Collective Agreement of OAO Gazprom and the Subsidiaries for 2007 through 2009 as well as the Collective Agreement between OAO Gazprom Officers & Employees and OAO Gazprom for 2007 through 2009.

On December 26, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Zinaida Greceanii, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova achieved an accord on supply Russian natural gas to the Republic at the piece of $ 170 for 1,000 cu m in 2007.

On December 26, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Bakhytkozha Izmukhambetov, Energy Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Uzakbai Karabalin, President of KazMunayGas National Company inked a Protocol on the cooperation terms for 2007. The Protocol identifies the terms and retains the existing rate of gas transit across the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Protocol also determines the terms of gas supply from the Karachaganak field to the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant. Furthermore, the Protocol fixes the terms of gas deliveries to Kazakhstan’s internal market, including through cross supply.

On December 26, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Valentina Matviyenko, Governor of St. Petersburg inked a Cooperation Accord for 2007 and a Gas Supply Program for St. Petersburg between 2007 and 2015 with an Outlook till 2025.

On December 26, Gazprom and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO) entered into an Agreement of cooperation for 2007.

On December 26, Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee met with Hany Soliman Ali, First Undersecretary of the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, Sherif Soussa, Chief Executive Officer of Rashid Petroleum Company and Ibrahim Ahmed, Vice Chairman for Planning & Projects of EGAS (Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company). The parties addressed the major directions of the cooperation between Gazprom and Egyptian companies in the oil & gas sector as well as agreed on concrete steps to intensify the work in the promising areas.

On December 27, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Valery Serdyukov, Governor of the Leningrad Oblast inked a Cooperation Accord for 2007.

On December 29, Gazprom obtained from the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan two geological survey licenses for the Sargazon (Dangara) and Rengan (Rudaki) oil & gas prospects.

On December 31, the Gazprom Headquarters hosted the final round of the talks on gas supply to Belarus and the signing ceremony of a five-year Gas Supply & Transit Contract for 2007 through 2011 in the presence of Sergey Sidorsky, Government Chairman of the Republic of Belarus. The parties identified the price of Russian gas for 2007 (US$ 100 per 1,000 cu m), the pricing formula starting from January 1, 2008 (which is in line with the Russian gas supply pricing formula for Europe) and the discounts to the market price for 2008, 2009 and 2010 (67%, 80% and 90%, respectively). The parties also agreed on the tariff rate for gas supply by the Beltransgaz owned networks (US$ 1.45) and the service charge for the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline operation. Under the Contract terms, Gazprom will pay US$ 2.5 bln for a 50% stake in Beltransgaz over the next four years.

In December, the results of the annual National Premium “For Faultless Reputation” were summed up. Among the monopolies the first place won Gazprom.
On the results for 2006, Yamburggazdobycha, Gazprom subsidiary became the winner of the All-Russian Review-Competition "Leader of Nature Protection in Russia ".

On the results for 2006, Gazprom Media received the Darin National Premium for business-reputation awarded for business achievements. The holding was noted in Business-Media nomination.
On results for 2006, Gazfond the non state pension fund became the winner of the Professional Premium “Financial Olympus 2006” in the “Management Strategy” nomination.
On results of 2006, Gazprom became the winner of the All-Russia interrogation “the Most Successful Russian Company of 2006” organized by the Tribune newspaper. 65 per cent of all respondents voted for Gazprom.
On results of 2006, Gazprom became the owner of the premium of the International Orthodox Unity Fund “For an outstanding activity on strengthening unity of orthodox people for 2006”. The Company received the award for participation in the Fund’s patriarchal educational programs execution and actions on temple restoration and construction.