Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller to Meet with Head of PricewaterhouseCoopers - 13 September, 2002

Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller yesterday announced his intention to hold a meeting with Richard Patterson, the head of the gas concern's auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). According to Gazprom's press office, the meeting is planned for the last ten days of December.

Yesterday, Alexei Miller chaired a meeting at Gazprom's headquarters on issues arising from the company's relationship with PWC. The meeting was attended by deputy chief executive Boris Yurlov, Gazprom's chief accountant Elena Vasilieva and PWC's manager of accounting and consulting services for the fuel and energy industry in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, Keith Rowden. The main topic of the meeting was the preparation of a financial report for 2002 which meets both Russian and international standards. The participants in the meeting also discussed questions relating to the state of preparation of the interim financial report for the first six months of this year, in the light of work connected to the publication of Gazprom's European obligations.

Gazprom Plc. was formed in February 1993 after the flotation of the state gas concern Gazprom, which had been created from the Soviet Ministry for the Gas Industry in 1989. Gazprom produces over 20% of the world's natural gas and 94% of Russia's. The company generates around 8% of the country's GNP and one quarter of the federal budget's tax returns, and is responsible for up to 8% of the country's industrial output. Gazprom's shareholders include over 500,000 Russian citizens.

Gazprom's net profit for 2001 was about USD 3.2 billion, more than double that for 2000 (USD 1.5 billion). Sales profit for 2001 was about USD 6.9 billion on total sales of about USD 18.6 billion.