Today, at Gazprom’s Headquarters, Alexey Miller, Gazprom’s Management Committee Chairman and Vasily Bochkarev, Governor of the Penza Region have sealed a five-year Cooperation Agreement.

Under the Cooperation Agreement, the parties confirmed their mutual interest in meeting the following paramount challenges:

• Expanding gas deliveries to rural settlements;
• Developing and improving sustainable gas deliveries to consumers;
• Developing capacities spurring wider use of compressed and liquefied gas as motor fuel;
• Developing and introducing gas saving technologies;
• Ensuring environmental safety and rational subsoil use;
• Implementing a housing construction program for the Gazprom Group’s current and retired employees being re-settled from the Extreme North and identical regions.

The parties will jointly step up measures aimed at improving the Penza Region’s energy balance and will develop a power conservation program aiming to reduce gas consumption through the use of state-of-the-art technologies and equipment.

At the same time, the parties agreed on the possibility of jointly getting involved in investment projects in the Region. However, Gazprom and its subsidiaries will take part in those provided the project viability fits with Gazprom’s intra-corporate standards.

The Regional authorities will channel timely and full payments for gas deliveries to budget-financed bodies and thoroughly offset Gazprom’s losses when gas is supplied to privileged customers.

Gazprom and its subsidiaries will be assisted in timely settling gas accounts with the Regional consumers providing gas payments from self-run budgets.

Simultaneously, the Regional authorities will back Gazprom and its subsidiaries in obtaining land intended for production & social infrastructure building sites.

Gazprom and its subsidiaries will, on their part, provide reliable natural gas deliveries to the Penza Region’s consumers in the predetermined amount dependent on the United Gas Transmission System capacities, gas quotas annually allocated throughout Russia, proper gas demand and timely gas payments.

Reference:

Gazprom and the Penza Region first entered into a cooperation agreement in July 1998.

Last year, Gazprom provided Regional customers with over 2.2 bcm of gas and roughly the same amount is slated for 2005.

The natural gas supply infrastructure of the Penza Region is developed at 76.1% of maximum demand, including at 87.5%, in cities and towns and 56%, in rural area. The identical Russia-averaged parameters account for 53%, 60% and 34.7%, respectively.

In 2004, Gazprom channeled over RUR 86 mln to intensify gas consumption in the Penza Region.

Over 2005, gas supply to the Region has been paid up by 70.2%, with the gas debt accounting for RUR 192.5 mln, as of 1 April, which is RUR 118 mln up on 1 January.

DIVISION OF RELATIONS WITH MASS MEDIA