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Deal finalized for Russian government to acquire control of Gazprom

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  • Deal finalized for Russian government to acquire control of Gazprom

    Deal finalized for Russian government to acquire control of Gazprom

    Interfax
    June 16 2005

    The Russian gas giant Gazprom's board of directors has approved a
    price for the sale of a further stake in the company to the state,
    the Russian news agency Interfax reported from Moscow on 16 June. The
    acquisition of more shares will give the Russian government control of
    Gazprom with a view to "liberalization" of trading in the company's
    shares, another Russian news agency, ITAR-TASS, added in its report
    on the development.

    Gazprom agreed to sell an additional 10.74-per-cent stake in the
    company to the state-owned Rosneftegaz oil and gas firm for 203.5bn
    roubles, or 7.11bn dollars, Interfax and TASS said in their reports.

    "The board of directors agreed that 2,542,500,000 shares in the
    Gazprom open joint-stock company, which represents 10.7399 per cent
    of its charter capital, will be transferred to the Rosneftegaz open
    joint-stock company by Gazprom's subsidiaries," said Gazprom's press
    release as quoted by Interfax. Gazprombank, Gazprominvestholding,
    Gazfond and Gazpromfinans were the subsidiaries listed. The price is
    R203,501,700,000, the press release said.

    "All members of the board voted in favour, including its independent
    members such as chairman of the E.ON Ruhrgas AG board Burckhard
    Bergmann and UFG honorary chairman Boris Fedorov," Interfax's source
    on the board said. Pressed about Gazprom chairman Aleksey Miller's
    absence from the meeting, the source said there was nothing unusual
    about it and that Miller had "given his view in writing". Miller
    himself was on a visit to the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

    "The state will thus increase its stake in the gas monopoly to control
    it as part of plans to liberalize the market in Gazprom shares,"
    ITAR-TASS said in its report.

    "The way has thus been opened for the liberalization of the market
    for Gazprom shares," Fedorov told Interfax.

    A meeting of Rosneftegaz's shareholders - in the words of Interfax's
    source a "formality" - approved the deal the same day, the agency
    added.
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