Translated material
Absentee budget setting
The Board of Directors of Gazprom recorded the allocation of funds for the purchased assets
Last week, the Gazprom Board of Directors agreed on yet another update to the company’s budget for the current year. As stated in the concern's statement, the directors approved in absentia a new version of the financial plan, investment program and borrowing program. “The need to clarify the investment program and budget is caused mainly by the acquisition of shares in Sakhalin Energy, Beltransgaz, and Mosenergo,” the press release says. “In addition, changes to the investment program are due, in particular, to clarifying the list of investment projects and the volume of investments.” The new version takes into account the decrease in gas sales volumes due to an abnormally warm winter and changes in macroeconomic indicators (strengthening of the ruble and the dynamics of world oil prices).The Gazprom board approved amendments to the budget related to the purchase of shares in Sakhalin-2, Beltransgaz and Mosenergo on May 31, a few days before the hospitalization of the head of the company, Alexei Miller. Coincidence or not, the procedure for approving the budget by the board of directors was delayed. The issue was not considered in June, but a month ago the directors who met in person instructed the management to finalize the company’s financial plans in two weeks.
The final version assumes that capital investments will decrease by more than 40 billion rubles. (as expected in May), but only by 25 billion, to 335.5 billion rubles. And long-term financial investments will amount to 443 billion rubles. (1 billion rubles more than in the documents approved by the board). At the same time, the increase in expenses for other items not related to investments turned out to be at the level of $500 million. Apparently, these funds will be used for additional costs of the Gazprom administration, as well as servicing new large loans.
The concern's borrowing program remained within the framework planned in May - 420 billion rubles. Most likely, at the end of the year, the amount of the company’s net debt (all obligations to creditors minus cash and cash equivalents in accounts) will exceed 1 trillion rubles. This is almost half of the company's planned revenues for this year and more than Gazprom's record export revenue. According to consolidated financial statements according to international standards as of December 31, 2006, net debt amounted to 807 billion rubles.
As a source close to the board of directors of Gazprom told Interfax, Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref, who usually does not vote or votes against approval of the monopoly’s budget, this time supported the document. It should be noted that the approved budget does not fully take into account the results of the Gazprom group’s work in the first half of the year, as it was developed back in May. That is, it does not take into account the results of financial and investment activities in the first half of the year, based on the results of which changes and additions were invariably made in previous years. In addition, the concern's new plans do not take into account new acquisitions, which are sure to happen. If only because by the end of September Gazprom must buy from TNK-BP 62% of the shares of RUSIA Petroleum, which owns the license for the Kovykta gas condensate field, and 50% of the East Siberian Gas Company for a total amount of 600-900 million dollars.