OREANDA-NEWS. The Gazprom Board of Directors held a meeting in absentia.

The Board of Directors approved the acquisition by Gazprom of a 92.25 per cent stake in Kamchatgazprom from Rosneftegaz. According to the terms of the deal agreed upon with Rosneftegaz the shares of Kamchatgazprom will be purchased for RUB 2.85 billion. Gazprom will be offered the opportunity of making interest-free installment payments over 23 years. The shares will be paid for in equal yearly portions. The value of payments according to the specified schedule does not exceed the price of Kamchatgazprom shares approved by the Board of Directors on March 2, 2010, namely RUB 1.64 billion.

The work aimed at the acquisition of Kamchatgazprom shares is done in pursuance of the Russian Government's Directive of May 19, 2009.

The acquisition of Kamchatgazprom shares allows Gazprom to take control over all the elements of the Kamchatka Territory gas supply chain: gas production (at present, Gazprom acts as a pre-development operator at the Kshukskoye and Nizhne-Kvakchikskoye fields, the licenses for which are owned by Kamchatgazprom), transmission and distribution. This will enable the Company to secure long-term uninterrupted gas supplies to the consumers in the region as well as to increase the level of its gasification.
Background

In September 2007 the Russian Government made the decision to involve Gazprom in the Project for Gas Supply to Kamchatka Region, Phase 1 – Gas Supply to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

As part of the project, in 2010 Gazprom constructed the Sobolevo – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky gas trunkline and started Kamchatkan gas deliveries to the Peninsula's capital. In 2012 the Company completed the principal stage of the Kshukskoye and Nizhne-Kvakchikskoye gas condensate fields pre-development. The work done at the fields makes it possible to deliver more gas to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky facilities as well as secure gas supplies to other consumers of the Kamchatka Territory. It is planned to subsequently produce 750 million cubic meters of gas per year from these fields.

Nowadays, the majority shareholders of Kamchatgazprom are Rosneftegaz (92.25 per cent) and the Kamchatka Territory Federal Property Management Agency (7.731 per cent).