MOSCOW - In May 2003, Gazprom signed an agreement with a company affiliated with Germany's Ruhrgas AG to sell 117 million ordinary shares (about 0.5% of the authorized capital) of the company for cash payment of 3.1 billion rubles ($0.86 per share), according to Gazprom's consolidated financial statements for 2002 under IAS. The report also states that earlier, in March 2003, Gazprom signed an agreement with Lotsman LLC and Prom-Invest LLC to purchase 286 million ordinary shares of the company for 7.635 billion rubles ($0.85 per share). Chairman of the Ruhrgas AG Management Board Burkhard Bergmann reported in May that the company had increased its stake in Gazprom to about 6.5%. He noted that Ruhrgas intends to gradually increase its share in Gazprom to 8-10%. (INTERFAX-AGI).

TURKMENBASHI - Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov signed contracts for the sale of 46 billion cubic meters of gas in 2004. Of these, 36 billion cubic meters will be purchased by Naftogaz Ukrainy and 10 billion cubic meters by the Itera group of companies. In addition, Gazprom will purchase Turkmen gas in 2004 - the first 6 billion cubic meters in accordance with a 25-year agreement on the purchase and sale of gas between Turkmenistan and Gazprom, Niyazov said. (PRIME-TASS).

MOSCOW - Gazprom's net profit for 2002, according to IAS standards, increased 2.2 times compared to the previous year and amounted to 28.955 billion rubles, according to the company's report. The company's sales revenue for 2002 decreased by 9.6% (by 68.280 billion rubles) compared to 2001 and amounted to 644.687 billion rubles. As noted in the Gazprom report, the decrease in revenue occurred primarily as a result of a decrease in revenue from sales of natural gas to European countries and a general decrease in revenue from sales of gas condensate and oil and gas processing products. (INTERFAX-AGI).

MOSCOW - The draft resolution on the creation of Russian Railways will be submitted to the government, as expected, on July 31, Deputy Minister of Railways Anna Belova said. She noted that the document has already been approved by all ministries and departments. According to Belova, only the final size of the authorized capital of the new JSC has not yet been determined. By July 25, an inventory of all enterprises included in Russian Railways will be completed, after which the final size of the authorized capital will be determined. (INTERFAX).

LONDON - The European Commission has called on OPEC countries to increase oil production so that consumer countries can replenish their stockpiles, Platts reported, citing a statement by EU Transport Commissioner Loyola Palacio. (INTERFAX-ANI).

MOSCOW - The Accounts Chamber points to a loss of foreign currency earnings and a reduction in tax payments in the country's timber industry in 2000-2001. These findings are contained in materials presented to the chamber's board. The average world price for unprocessed timber for this period was $77, while in Russia it was only $47 per cubic meter, the auditors note. (INTERFAX-AFI).

In 2004, Russia plans to launch five Progress cargo spacecraft and two Soyuz manned spacecraft to the International Space Station, Mikhail Sinelshchikov, head of the Rosaviakosmos manned programs department, told Interfax. "This number of spacecraft (last year, Russia planned to launch only three Progress spacecraft) is also connected with the break in shuttle flights, since any break affects the overall balance of cargo to the station," Sinelshchikov said. (INTERFAX).

Russia to launch seven ships