Russ Oil-Gas

10/29/2006 RBC News – Russian gas company Gazprom said its Board of Directors has approved the planned sale of Gazprom’s 24.9 percent stake in Gazprombank to the non-governmental pension fund Gazfond. The necessary changes to Gazprom’s 2006 budget will be prepared by the Executive Board and submitted to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has also determined Gazprom’s position on voting in Gazprombank on increasing its authorized capital through issuing new shares. According to unconfirmed reports, Gazfond will pay for the Gazprombank shares with Mosenergo shares. Gazprombank plans to issue RUR 6 billion (approx. $223 million) worth of new shares before the end of this year. The bank will issue 6,665,926 ordinary registered shares, with a face value of RUR 1,000 (approx. $37) each. Gazprombank was set up in 1990. Its main shareholders are Gazprom (87.49 percent) and New Financial Technologies (12.55 percent), owned by the bank itself. Gazprombank’s authorized capital is worth RUR 13.33 billion (approx. $498 million). It has over 300 offices in 48 regions of Russia. The company also has a stake in a foreign bank in Belarus. Gazfond was founded in October 1994 to ensure pension provision for gas industry workers. The founders are Gazprom, Urengoigazprom, Yamburggazdobycha, Yugtransgaz, and Gazprombank. The fund has a state license for non-governmental pension provision. Mosenergo, Moscow’s power utility, has an authorized capital of RUR 28,267,726,000 (approx. $1.04 billion), divided into the same number of ordinary shares with a nominal value of RUR 1 (approx. $0.037). RAO Unified Energy Systems of Russia has a 50.87 percent stake in the company, and Gazprom controls about 30 percent.