Moscow, 25 March 2005. The Board of Directors of OAO NOVATEK, one of the leading natural gas producers in Russia, approved the implementation and establishment of three Board committees, Audit, Strategy and Investment and Corporate Governance, in accordance with Corporate Governance best practices and standards.

Duties of the Audit Committee will include management and review of the relationship with the Company’s independent Auditor, approval of the Company’s financial statements and the establishment, development and monitoring the Company’s system of internal controls including overseeing the internal audit function. The Strategy and Investment Committee will consider large investment projects and strategic capital financing, while the Corporate Governance Committee will focus on further development of the Company’s Corporate Governance program and supervise its implementation.

The new Board Committees will be headed by Independent Directors, Anatoly Mikhailovich Brekhuntsov, Chairman of the Strategy and Investment and Corporate Governance Committees and Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dmitriev, Chairman of the Audit Committee.

MR. ANATOLY MIKHAILOVICH BREKHUNTSOV

Mr. Anatoly Mikhailovich Brekhuntsov was born in 1941. In 1963, he graduated from Tomsk Polytechnical Institute named after S.M. Kirov where he specialized in Geology and Exploration of the Oil and Gas Fields. Since 1997 to present, Mr. Brekhuntsov has been the General Director of ??? «Siberian Scientific and Analytical Center». Mr. Brekhuntsov is rewarded with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and with the Order of Peoples Friendship. He is the USSR State Prize laureate in Science and Techniques. He is also a Gubkin Prize laureate. Mr. Brekhuntsov is Honorable Oilman, Honorable Gasman and Honorable Geologist of Russia

MR. VLADIMIR ALEKSANDROVICH DMITRIEV

Mr. Dmitriev was born on August 25, 1953. In 1975, he graduated from the Moscow Financial Institute. Between 1993-1995, Mr. Dmitriev was Deputy Head of the Currency Department of the RF Finance Ministry. Since February 1995 through August 1997, he worked as Deputy Head of the Foreign Credits and External Debt Department of the RF Finance Ministry. Between 1997-2002, Mr. Dmitriev was First Deputy CEO of Vnesheconombank. Since 2002 through May 2004, he was Deputy CEO of Vneshtorgbank. In May 2004, by the Order of the RF President he was appointed as a Chief Executive Officer of Vneshtorgbank of the Russian Federation.

Cautionary statement relevant to Forward-looking information

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of NOVATEK. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that we cannot predict with certainty. Words such as “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “plans”, “targets”, “projects”, “believes”, “seeks”, “estimates”, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and are difficult to predict. Accordingly, our actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what we have expressed
or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.