The Russian Gazprom has promised to optimize its pricing policy in the event of sanctions being imposed against the company, according to a quarterly report published on Wednesday on the gas monopolist’s website.

The document acknowledges that due to international economic sanctions against Russia due to the Ukrainian crisis, there is a possibility that a number of EU countries will become more active in order to reduce dependence on Russian gas supplies and reduce the share of Gazprom OJSC in the gas market. “To reduce this risk, the Company is optimizing its pricing policy, as well as geographic diversification of natural gas supplies for export and delivery methods (LNG),” notes the “Political and Economic Risks” section of the report.

It also notes that in connection with the crisis in Ukraine, there may be risks of financial and economic sanctions being applied to society by the United States and Europe, which may complicate cooperation with business partners of Gazprom. In order to reduce these risks, the Russian company promises to constantly work to maintain its business reputation.

It follows from the report that Gazprom’s net profit according to Russian accounting standards (RAS) in the first half of 2014 decreased by 1.6 times compared to the same period last year and amounted to 154 billion 989 million rubles (250 billion 143 million rubles in the year previously). Balance sheet profit decreased over 6 months by 19% to 282.524 billion rubles.

The decrease in the “Net profit” indicator was largely influenced by the reflection under the item “Other expenses,” the document says. The decrease in balance sheet profit and net profit is due to an increase in the company's other expenses by 1.3 times to 1.882 trillion rubles.

Profit before tax amounted to 282.5 billion rubles, its dynamics thus turned out to be negative (minus 19%). A sharp increase in income tax (almost 7 times - to 79.5 billion rubles) led to a sharp drop in net profit compared to the previous year, the report says.

It notes that in the first half of 2014, OJSC Gazprom had no losses from financial and economic activities.

The company's revenue during the reporting period increased by almost 10% and amounted to 2 trillion 111.6 billion rubles. The cost of production increased by 4% (to 979.99 billion rubles). Gross profit - by 15% (up to 1 trillion 131.6 billion rubles). And sales profit increased by 23% (to 591 billion rubles).

The report states that Turkey increased gas purchases from Gazprom in the first half of the year by 9.1% (to 14.07 billion cubic meters), Italy - by 8.5% (to 14.2 billion cubic meters) . Germany reduced gas imports by 1.8% (to 18.16 billion cubic meters). In general, Russian gas exports to Western Europe during the reporting period increased by 4.3% and amounted to 64.75 billion cubic meters. m of gas.

Gazprom optimizes pricing policy due to sanctions