May 08, 2024

A Dismal Year for Gazprom


A Dismal Year for Gazprom
Gazprom and White House. James Offer, Flickr.

Gazprom, the Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation, concluded 2023 with its worst financial performance in history. The company's losses amounted to R629 billion (nearly $6.9 billion), with revenue plummeting by 27%.

The last time Gazprom faced a loss was during the rocky years of 1998–1999. During that period, global oil prices were at historic lows, and a significant portion of Gazprom’s contracts were linked to oil prices. Concurrently, domestic market non-payments were rampant. Even during the pandemic-induced challenges of 2020, Gazprom did not suffer losses as severe as those witnessed in 2023.

The primary catalyst for the losses stems from dwindling export revenues from gas sales to Europe, a repercussion of Russia's relentless War on Ukraine. Independent energy expert Kirill Rodionov reported a staggering 56% decline in gas supplies to the European Union, plummeting from 66.6 billion cubic meters in 2022 to 29.3 billion cubic meters in 2023. This decline failed to be offset by the increase in Russian gas exports to China, from 16 billion cubic meters to 22.5 billion.

Another contributing factor for Gazprom's financial woes is the heightened financial burden imposed by an additional increase in the mineral extraction tax.

Remarkably, the record losses in 2023 materialized despite optimistic assurances from both government officials and management. In October 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence amidst the turmoil surrounding Gazprom: “Now Gazprom delivers less and has less income, but it feels confident.”

In December, Famil Sadigov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Gazprom, projected a bright outlook for 2023, citing anticipated robust financial results driven by “other activities” and escalating gas supplies to China.

At the same time, Russia and China have yet to reach an agreement on the construction of the expansive gas pipeline Sila Sibiri 2 ("Power of Siberia"), which could position Russia as China's principal gas supplier. However, even if consensus is reached regarding the pipeline's construction, it is likely not sufficient to mitigate Gazprom's loss in the European market.

You Might Also Like

An Air Self Defense
  • March 27, 2024

An Air Self Defense

Some Russian companies are buying their own air defense systems.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955