Gazprom To Receive 50 Million Of Own Shares In Bank Sale

Gazprom will be paid with fifty million of its own shares and $12.75 million in National Reserve Bank promissory notes in exchange for a stake in the bank that the gas producer agreed to sell to the bank's other shareholders, the Vedomosti newspaper has reported.

The bank will transfer the shares, which total 0.2 percent of the gas company's outstanding stock, to Gazprom's fully owned subsidiary Gazprominvestholding, the paper said, citing materials prepared for Gazprom's board meeting.

Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas producer, agreed in May to sell 37.4 percent of National Reserve bank to a group of NRB shareholders, including the bank's management, as Gazprom exits businesses not related to pumping gas.

Government controlled Gazprom is focusing on developing new fields and overhauling aging wells as it attempts to reverse the seven and a half percent decline in its output over the past three years.

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