2004
January
Gazprom received awards in London from the International Financial Review for the best 2003 bond issue in the Emerging Market Bond and the EEMEA Bond nominations.
The following decisions were made:
- to establish a subdivision for developing the industry-wide quality system;
- to work out drafts of three-year investment programs and budgets of Gazprom.
The Russian Government issued Order N64-r approving the proposals by the Russian Energy Ministry and Gazprom to design the North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP).
Gazprom’s committee conducted the acceptance test of the first domestic all-terrain vehicle SHSG 401 made on the Company’s request. The testing procedure took place at the proving ground of engineering troops of the Russian Ministry of Defense in the Leningrad Region.
Gazprom Transgaz Yekaterinburg celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Gazprom Transgaz Yekaterinburg headquarters in Yekaterinburg
February
Gazprom successfully placed A3 ruble bonds worth RUB 10 billion, at the nominal price of RUB 1,000 with three-year maturity.
Celebrations dedicated to the end of the Adler – Krasnaya Polyana gas pipeline construction were held near the Krasnaya Polyana settlement in the Adler district of Sochi.
Alexander Tkachev, Governor of Krasnodar Territory, Bogdan Budzulyak, Member of Gazprom Management Committee, Nikolai Guslisty, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Management Committee and Yury Basarygin, Director General of Kubangazprom at celebration dedicated to end of Adler – Krasnaya Polyana gas pipeline construction, February 2004
The meeting of the Coordination Committee for cooperation between Gazprom and Siemens (Germany) resulted in approving the Joint Action Program for 2004.
Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Herbert Walter, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of Dresdner Bank came to an agreement that Dresdner Bank would be a financial consultant for the North European Gas Pipeline construction project.
The following documents were signed:
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Irkutsk Region Administration;
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Krasnodar Territory Administration;
The Gazprom headquarters hosted a meeting dedicated to the implementation of the North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP) construction project.
The following decisions were made:
- to invite a legal advisor (Linklaters) to go on with the project;
- to invite financial advisors (Dresdner Bank and ABN Amro);
- to hold a tender to select an engineering advisor for the project.
March
The Kaluga Region Government approved the investment project for regional gas supply and gasification developed by Gazprom’s subsidiary company Promgaz.
Warsaw hosted celebrations dedicated to the tenth anniversary of Russian-Polish joint venture EuRoPol GAZ.
At the meeting dedicated to the Yuzhno-Russkoye field development Gazprom resolved to identify the said field as the basic resource base for gas supply via the North European Gas Pipeline.
The Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Leningrad Region Administration was signed.
The following events took place:
- the acquisition of a 34 per cent stake in Lithuanian company Lietuvos Dujos by Gazprom. At the same time, Gazprom and Lietuvos Dujos prolonged a long-term contract for gas supply to Lithuania up to 2015.
- the Russian Wings-2003 National Aviation Award Ceremony. Gazprom avia became the award winner in the ‘Company of the Year – passenger carrier on domestic airlines in group II’ nomination (passenger traffic on home airlines: 500 million passenger-kilometers and up).
The Gazprom Management Committee approved the comprehensive program for reconstruction and re-equipment of Gazprom's gas facilities from 2004 to 2008.
April
Gazprom’s representative office in Turkmenistan started its work.
The following documents were signed:
- the Protocol of Intent between Gazprom and Vyksa Metallurgic Plant for 2004 to 2007;
- the Order to perform a feasibility study of possible use of underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Poland for the secure operation of the Yamal – Europe gas pipeline;
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Chechen Republic Government;
- the Production Sharing Agreement signed in Tashkent by Zarubezhneftegaz (Gazprom holds 60.1 per cent) and Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company for the follow-up development of the Shakhpakhty field in Uzbekistan;
- The five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Tambov Region Administration;
- the Framework Agreement for the long-term strategic cooperation between Gazprom and EvrazHolding in production and sales of large-diameter pipes.
Hydrocarbon prospecting, exploration and production areas owned by Gazprom in Uzbekistan (Ustyurt region)
It was resolved to recommend bringing the Yamal-KA (Yamal-200) space complex into regular operation to Gazcom.
May
The five-year Agreement of Cooperation was signed by Gazprom and the Smolensk Region Administration.
The competitive tender to audit Gazprom’s 2004 financial statements ended. The Tender Commission considered the proposal submitted by PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit as the most compliant with the requirements brought forward.
The following events took place:
- celebrations dedicated to the 5th anniversary of commercial gas production by Vostokgazprom (Gazprom holds a 86.5 per cent stake in the company);
- the ceremony on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Gazprom’s subsidiary company Bashtransgaz.
June
The following documents were signed:
- the Contract between Salavatnefteorgsintez and Technimont for the construction of a suspension polyethylene production line within Salavatnefteorgsintez;
- the package of Agreements for Gazprom to purchase a 12.8 per cent stake in Stimul and mutual dispute settlement between the parties. In compliance with the signed documents, Gazprom would acquire a 12.8 per cent stake in Stimul from Victory Oil;
- the Contract between Gazprom and Beltransgaz (present Gazprom Transgaz Belarus) for gas supply and transit;
- the Order authorizing Gazprom’s representative office in China to represent the Company’s interests in Asia-Pacific countries;
- the Protocol of Intent among Gazprom, Spetsneftegaz and Argentinian gas transmission company Transportadora de Gas del Sur to outline the prospects for further joint cooperation in the technical sphere.
The Gazprom Management Committee found it viable to submit the final binding offer for purchasing a 51 per cent stake in the Distrigaz Sud Romanian gas distribution company on its own or in consortium with Dutch company Marco Industries.
Moscow hosted the annual General Shareholders Meeting of Gazprom. The meeting elected the new Board of Directors. At the end of the Meeting the newly-elected Board of Directors elected Dmitry Medvedev, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Alexey Miller was named as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors.
July
The following documents were signed:
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Kirov Region Government;
- the Memorandum of Understanding between E.ON and Gazprom, outlining the parties’ agreements on further deepening of the successful cooperation in the area of strategic projects;
- the 2004 Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area Yugra Government;
- the Agreement between Gazprom’s subsidiary Mezhregiongaz and the Federal Agency for Construction and Housing & Communal Services to cooperate in developing and upgrading housing & communal services in Russian regions;
- the package of documents containing terms and conditions of the cooperation between Russia and Ukraine in natural gas supply and transit through to 2028. Pursuant to the signed documents, a new company RosUkrEnergo was set up.
Gazprom’s subsidiary Gazkomplektimpex celebrated its 40th anniversary.
A working group for instituting the cost control system was set up in Gazprom.
The international audit of Gazprom's gas reserves was carried out by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, an internationally recognized consulting company in the oil and gas sector. Based on the assessment, proven and forecasted natural gas reserves amounted to 652.7 trillion cubic feet (18.48 trillion cubic meters).
The Gazprom Board of Directors resolved to set up Mezhregiongazholding. Mezhregiongaz and Lentransgaz, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Gazprom will be the stakeholders of Mezhregiongazholding with 99 and 1 per cent stakes respectively.
August
The following documents were signed:
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Altai Territory Administration;
- the package of documents confirming full and final debt settlement to Gazprom for gas deliveries to Ukraine from 1997 to 2000.
The Gazprom Management Committee acknowledged the expediency of advancing project International Consortium for the Ukrainian Gas Transmission System Operation and Development to the investment phase involving a staged construction of the Bogorodchany – Uzhgorod gas pipeline. The Management Committee also ratified an UAH 182 million (some USD 34 million) increase in the consortium equity capital, to be achieved by Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy 50/50 per cent additional contributions.
September
The following documents were signed:
- the Memorandum of Understanding among Gazprom, Rosneft and Statoil (Norway);
- the Memorandum of Understanding between Gazprom and Chevron Texaco, signed by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee during his visit to the USA. The Memorandum provides for a six-month investigation of possibilities for joint implementation of oil and gas projects in Russia and the USA.
The Board of Directors resolved to change the name of Mezhregiongazholding to Gazpromregiongaz. Actually, this was the first time a Gazprom subsidiary changed its business name within the Company’s second phase of restructuring.
The following events took place:
- celebrations dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Russian gas supply to Finland and the 10th anniversary of Gasum (Gazprom holds a 25 per cent stake in the company);
- the presentation of ‘The Masterpieces of the Russian Art. The Golden Map of Russia’ Art Album in the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts. The Album was published by the State Tretyakov Picture Gallery with the participation of the museum-supporting Fatherland’s Treasures Foundation and with Gazprom’s financial backing. ‘The Masterpieces of the Russian Art. The Golden Map of Russia’ Art Album is a part of the Golden Map of Russia large exhibition and publishing project of the Tretyakov Picture Gallery, that received the 2003 State Award of the Russian Federation.
October
The Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area hosted celebrations dedicated to bringing the Zapolyarnoye oil and gas condensate field to its full design capacity as well as to the 20th anniversary of Yamburggazdobycha.
The following documents were signed:
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Arkhangelsk Region Administration;
- the Memorandum of Understanding between Gazprom and Petro-Canada Canadian oil & gas company;
- the Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation;
- the Program to start pilot operation of locomotives powered by liquefied and compressed natural gas at the Sverdlovsk railway test grounds;
- the Agreement for Interaction between Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy within the investment stage of the International Consortium for the Ukrainian Gas Transmission System Management and Development;
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Kostroma Region Administration;
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Ivanovo Region Administration.
The Chamber of Patent Disputes of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trade Marks registered the ‘Gazprom’ trademark as generally accepted in the Russian Federation.
The Company resolved that:
- all the performers of contractual work financed by Gazprom and provided for by its Investment Program would be selected in a centralized way by the Company’s Competition Committee and Tender Committee;
- Astrakhanregiongaz should become the main gas distribution company in the Astrakhan Region.
Gazprom placed A5 corporate ruble bonds worth RUB 5 billion with the nominal value of RUB 1,000 and a three-year maturity period.
First gas from the Pestsovaya area of the Urengoy oil, gas and condensate field was fed into the Unified Gas Supply System of Russia.
Smolensk hosted the annual meeting of representatives from dispatch services supplying Russian natural gas via the Yamal – Europe gas pipeline. The meeting participants signed a protocol outlining the main principles of online interaction among dispatch services engaged in gas supply from 2004 to 2005.
Gazprom’s subsidiary Orgenergogaz received the National Environmental Award in the Eco-Efficiency nomination for introducing the Environmental Monitoring System at the Blue Stream gas pipeline.
The Gazprom Board of Directors agreed on a 9 per cent stake increase in Latvijas Gaze equity capital.
November
The Gazprom Management Committee ordered Severneftegazprom to start developing the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field in 2004 and bring it onstream in 2007.
The following events took place:
- the first meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) of Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in Sanya (China);
- the tenth meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission for Commercial, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation in New Delhi;
- presentation and gifting to Austrian museums, educational institutions and libraries of ‘The Masterpieces of the Russian Art. The Golden Map of Russia’ Album within exhibition ‘Meetings: Culture and Economics of Austria and Russia’ held in the Austrian National Library, Vienna. The Album was published by the State Tretyakov Picture Gallery with Gazprom's financial backing;
- the Yety-Purovskoye gas field inauguration in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area;
- presentation of ‘The Masterpieces of the Russian Art. The Golden Map of Russia’ Album in the Russian Federation Embassy in Berlin. The Album was published by the State Tretyakov Picture Gallery with Gazprom’s financial backing.
Gazprom and NOVATEK closed the deal for the acquisition of 100 per cent stake in Purgazdobycha by Gazprom. Purgazdobycha held the subsurface license for the Zapadno-Tarkosalinskoye field.
December
The following events were held:
- festive commissioning of a gas processing unit at the Sosnogorsk Gas Processing Plant (GPP) of Severgazprom (Gazprom’s subsidiary company);
- presentation and gifting to Czech museums, educational institutions and libraries of ‘The Masterpieces of the Russian Art. The Golden Map of Russia’ Album held in the Rudolfinum concert hall. The first edition of the Album was published by the State Tretyakov Picture Gallery with Gazprom’s financial backing.
The Extraordinary General Shareholders Meeting held in absentia resolved to amend Gazprom’s Charter. The decision stemmed from the proposal of the Russian Government to increase the state share in Gazprom’s equity capital by transferring to the latter a stake in Rosneft.
The following documents were signed:
- the Memorandum of Understanding between Gazprom and Norwegian Hydro;
- the Memorandum for cooperation deepening in the gas sector between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Mehmet Bilgic, General Manager of the BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation in Ankara (Turkey);
- the Memorandum between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Anatoly Kvashnin, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Siberian Federal District on general guidelines for gasification of urban and rural areas of the Siberian Federal District;
- the inauguration of the Pestsovaya area of the Urengoy oil, gas and condensate field;
- the five-year Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Tomsk Region Administration;
- the Order to set up the East-Oriented Project Coordination Directorate within the Gazprom Administration;
- the Memorandum of Understanding between Gazprom and ConocoPhillips;
- the Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Saint Petersburg Administration for 2005;
- the Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area for 2005;
- the Contract for Gas Supply and Transit in 2005 between Gazprom and Beltransgaz;
- the Strategic Partnership Agreement between Gazprom and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL);
- the package of fundamental documents among Gazprom, Urengoygazprom, Wintershall and Achimgaz for the joint development of A1 block of the Achimov deposits in the Urengoy field.
The Gazprom Management Committee endorsed the Corporate Identity Guidelines. The Guidelines constitute the list of key elements of the Company’s visual representation (trademark, logo, colors, etc.).
The Gazprom Board of Directors coordinated the deal for acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in Stimul. Thus, with the account of the 12.8 per cent stake acquired in June 2004, Gazprom’s total share in the company will grow to 100 per cent.
The results of the Annual Corporate Report Competition held by Expert Magazine were summed up. Gazprom’s 2003 Report was considered the best in the Classic of the Genre nomination.