Federation Council wants Gazprom to evolve

Members of the Russian Federation Council Committee for Natural Monopolies speak for a slow reformation of the Gazprom gas holding. As Chairman of the Commission Mikhail Odintsov stated to journalists, "there is no other way", as a revolutionary way of reforming the gas giant would trigger a jump in gas prices by 3 to 4 times in a short period of time. Eventually, according to him, "the Russian population will come off the loser".

In its turn, Deputy Chairman of the Commission Yevgeny Zayashnikov pointed out that "the elimination of a vertically integrated company could lead to a crisis"; this is why it is necessary to reform Gazprom gradually. In his opinion, the first step toward reforming the holding will be stabilizing Gazprom's expenditures. For example, Zayashnikov mentioned that Gazprom had decided to cut its expenditures by RUR40bn (about $1.26bn) next year. The senator added that during reforms, Gazprom needed state support.

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