Gazprom boosts 2008 investments in Yamal
Deputy chief executive in Gazprom, Mr. Valerii Golubev last week confirmed that his company intends to increase 2008 investments with 25 percent. Much of the money will be spent on the development of the Yamal Peninsula in the Russian Arctic.
The state-run monopoly may raise its investment budget for 2008 by about 25 percent, Interfax reported Thursday, citing deputy chief executive Valery Golubev. The news was followed by a 4 percent fall in the company’s stock trading, newspaper Moscow Times reports.
It is only two months since Gazprom said it would increase investments with 16 percent. The additional 25 percent increase might now threaten to significantly strain the company’s economy.
Analysts believe Gazprom might be unable to invest the big money efficiently. The spending signals “potential value destruction” for the stock, JPMorgan’s said.
Gazprom confirms that the increased spending will help it step up the development of the Yamal Peninsula in the Russian Arctic. The company intends to complete the development of the biggest of the regional fields – the Bovanenkovskoe – by year 2011. The construction of a railway and a pipeline is already started.
Read more about the Yamal Peninsula in BarentsObserver’s Yamal section
