Gazprom’s Regional Policy Commission has convened on its meeting chaired by Alexander Ryazanov, the Commission Head and Deputy Chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee.

The Commission addressed issues relative to the handover of cultural, social and community facilities owned by Gazprom’s subsidiaries to the RF constituents and municipal unions.

The parties emphasized that said infrastructure transfers (except the facilities located in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area - YaNAA) should be largely finalized within 2005.

The Commission seconded the proposal to develop a quadripartite agreement between Gazprom, Urengoygazprom, YaNAA and Novy Urengoy, aiming to optimize the process of conveying title to cultural, social and community facilities to the authorities of Novy Urengoy.

The Commission members also advised Gazprom’s core business units to earmark targeted funds in the subsidiaries’ budgets for the smooth conveyance of ownership as well as to review existing options of providing social protection to the personnel of the companies in question.

The Commission heard a report on the progress in the 2002-2004 Program on hosing construction and acquisition for the resettlement to central Russia of the Gazprom Group’s current & retired employees and their households living in the Extreme North and similar areas or in temporary and unfit accommodation.

At present, Gazprom is working on legal documents governing the corporate housing policy. To this end, the Commission advised the Human Resources Department to produce proposals relative to the current and retired employees’ housing improvement regulations as well as outlined the major principles of housing program funding.

Reference:

Handing over corporate cultural, social and community infrastructure to the Russian Federation constituents and municipal unions is in line with the requirements of the existing RF legislation.

Between 2002 and 2003, Gazprom drew up and endorsed a register of its to-be-transferred cultural, social and community facilities currently accounting for 9,320 units located in the 51 Russian Federation regions, primarily in the Yamal-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Areas, Orenburg Region and Komi Republic. Some 1,500 facilities have already been transferred into the municipal ownership by the register compilation date.

Gazprom has so far identified its subsidiaries’ financing sources and priorities when conveying title to cultural, social and community facilities. In 2004, the Company handed over some 2,000 facilities and similar activities will progress this year, as well.

DIVISION OF RELATIONS WITH MASS MEDIA