The Russian energy giant Gazprom reported on Tuesday that it achieved a strong 83 percent increase in net profit in the first half of 2008, largely due to the sale of a bank it owns.
Net profit for the six months to June amounted to 573.75 billion rubles (19.5 billion dollars, 13.8 billion euros), according to the company’s statement. Revenues in the first six months jumped 52.4 percent compared to the same period the previous year, to around 59 billion dollars."The largest share of this comes from the sale of Gazprom’s stake in Gazprombank in June," the company stated. It is estimated that Gazprom controls about a quarter of the world’s natural gas reserves and meets about a quarter of the European Union’s needs. The company is in conflict with Ukraine over unpaid debts and has threatened to suspend supplies to that country, an important transit route for Europe, if an agreement is not reached by the New Year. (H)
