Gazprom in Figures 2009–2013

How can one buy (sell) Gazprom shares?

Shares are the type of property to be disposed at a shareholder’s discretion. A shareholder may sell shares to any individual or legal entity who wishes to buy them at a fair and negotiated price.

Shares can be acquired under a purchase and sale agreement drawn up in accordance with the applicable legislation with subsequent re-registration of proprietary rights in the depository (register keeper’s office) at the share owner’s banking account location.

Gazprom shares can be bought or sold through a professional stock broker. As a rule, such services are offered by investment companies and commercial banks. The Company’s shares can also be bought or sold at the offices of Gazprombank (Joint Stock Company).

Please note that Gazprom does not sell or buy its own shares as the Company is not a professional equity market participant.

Shares can be sold in block or in part. Please bear in mind that the income from the shares sold is subject to the personal income tax according to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The share price is not constant. It varies depending on demand and supply in the stock market (Russian stock exchanges).

Information about the Gazprom share price in the stock market is available through mass media including the website of the MICEX-RTS stock exchange (www.rts.micex.ru ).

Moreover, the stock exchange website lists accredited professional stock brokers.

Information about current Gazprom share quotations on Russian stock exchanges, as well as the Company’s ADRs on the international trading floors, is available on the Gazprom official website. When visiting the site, there is an option to look at the Gazprom stock dynamics for the desired period, to compare the historical and current share quotations for Gazprom and some leading Russian and foreign oil and gas companies, as well as stock indexes of some largest Russian and global exchanges. In addition, key financial results, annual reports and financial statements of the Company can also be found on the website.

Please note that only a shareholder makes a decision to sell shares. We are intended to provide information on potential share sale for clarification purposes only.

What are the rights of Gazprom’s shareholders?

Just like shareholders of other joint stock companies, Gazprom’s shareholders are basically entitled to:

• participate in the General Shareholders Meeting with a voting right on all issues within the General Shareholders Meeting competence;
• receive dividends.

A 2 per cent ownership stake enables a shareholder or a group of the Company’s shareholders to nominate candidates for the Gazprom Board of Directors and Audit Commission as well as to bring forward the shareholders meeting agenda items. A shareholder or a group of shareholders possessing a 10 per cent ownership stake may call for an extraordinary shareholders meeting of Gazprom to be summoned.

How to take part in Gazprom’s annual Shareholders Meeting?

A list of persons entitled to take part in the General Shareholders Meeting is drawn up on the basis of the Gazprom Register of Shareholders as at the end of the relevant business day.

On the basis of the Federal Law on Joint Stock Companies, Article 60, Clause 2, a voting ballot with a Meeting agenda is sent via registered mail (no later than 20 days prior to the date of the Meeting) to the stockholders specified in the list of persons entitled to participate in the General Shareholders Meeting. Those votes, represented by the voting ballots and received by the Company no later than two days prior to the date of the General Shareholders Meeting, are taken into account when summing up the voting results.

Information on registration for the Meeting participants is published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta and/or Tribuna newspapers, as well as on the Gazprom official website no later than 30 days prior to the Meeting. Stakeholders willing to take part in the annual General Shareholders Meeting in person shall arrive with an ID for registration at the appointed time.

At present, the Register of Shareholders includes a few hundred thousand Russian and foreign stockholders. Under this circumstance, as in past years shareholders are advised to exercise their right to take part in the Shareholders Meeting by a proxy in writing granted to their trustees or by a filled out voting ballot sent to the Company.

Are there any preferred shares issued by Gazprom?

The emission prospectus did not originally provide for any preferred shares issue. All Gazprom shares are ordinary registered shares.

What does ADR stand for?

ADR is an American Depositary Receipt publicly traded in stock markets outside Russia and issued against the ordinary shares of Gazprom. The Company’s ADRs are deposited with The Bank of New York Mellon. One ADR represents two shares of Gazprom. It is possible to convert Gazprom’s ordinary shares into ADRs and vice versa.

Can a shareholder of Gazprom sell shares in a foreign market?

In order to be sold in a foreign market, shares are to be converted into ADRs first. It is reasonable to vest the conversion operation in a professional equity market player – a brokerage company or a bank that, at the shareholder’s request, will take all necessary actions.

How is the dividend amount on Gazprom shares determined?

The dividend payment per share is calculated on the basis of the net profit specified in the accounting statements of Gazprom (parent company) in compliance with the Russian accounting standards. In its turn, the net profit depends on the Company’s operating and financial results.

The Gazprom Dividend Policy was approved by the Board of Directors in 2010. The Dividend Policy defines the dividend distribution procedures.

The document stipulates that 17.5 to 35 per cent of the Company’s net profit may be allocated for dividend payouts.

Dividends are calculated in the following procedure:

A share of the net profit is channeled to form the reserve fund.

Another share of the net profit in the amount of 10 per cent is used for dividend payouts. 40 to 75 per cent of the net profit is retained for the Company’s investment purposes. The remaining share of the net profit is divided into equal parts to pay out dividends and to form the reserve for investment purposes.

The net profit intended for dividend payouts may be adjusted (reduced) for the amount of Gazprom’s financial investment revaluation. This approach enables the Company to allocate the profit secured by the real cash flow for dividend payouts.

The Shareholders Meeting adopts the final decision on the dividend amount as recommended by the Board of Directors. The annual dividend payments adopted by the Meeting should not exceed the amount recommended by the Board of Directors.

How can a Gazprom shareholder, non-resident of the Russian Federation, receive dividends?

Services provided by the Russian issuers to their shareowners are made in rubles only. A Gazprom shareholder, being a non-resident of the Russian Federation (either an individual or a company), shall provide Gazprombank (Joint Stock Company) acting as Gazprom’s dividend payment agent with full bank account details of a stockholder. A foreign company, being a Gazprom shareholder and holding an account in a Russian bank, may request that dividends are transferred to that account.

Individuals, being non-residents of the Russian Federation and willing a third party to receive dividends on their behalf, shall provide Gazprombank (Joint Stock Company) with a power of attorney confirming the shareholder’s and trustee’s identities.

The possibility of postal money transfers abroad is excluded.