By Wikipedia MOSCOW — Russian state news agency RIA Novosti is reporting that former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, who held the post in the turbulent 1990s…
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OAO Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Gazprom was created in 1989 when the Ministry of Gas Industry of the Soviet Union transformed itself into a corporation, keeping all its assets intact. The company was later privatized in part, but currently the Russian government holds a controlling stake. In 2008, the company produced 549.7 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas, amounting to 17% of the worldwide gas production. In addition, the company produced 32 million tons of oil and 10.9 million tons of gas condensate. Gazprom's activities accounted for 10% of Russia's gross domestic product in 2008. The major part of Gazprom's production fields are located around the Gulf of Ob in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Western Siberia, while the Yamal Peninsula is expected to become the company's main gas producing region in the future. Gazprom possesses the largest gas transmission system in the world, with 158,200 kilometers of gas trunk lines. Major new pipeline projects include North Stream and South Stream. The company possesses subsidiaries in many different industry sectors, including finance, media and aviation. In addition, it controls majority stakes in various companies. Gazprom is publicly traded at stock exchanges as RTS:GAZP, MICEX:GAZP, LSE: OGZD, FWB: GAZ and OTC:OGZPY.
