Moscow [Russia], May 3: Russian energy giant Gazprom announced a net loss of 629 billion rubles in 2023 compared to a net profit of 1,230 billion rubles in 2022. This is a record high annual loss for Gazprom, according to AFP.
According to Reuters analysis, this is Gazprom's first annual loss since the late 1990s/early 2000s, when Alexei Miller, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin , took over the company in 2019. 2001.
Gazprom, currently headquartered in the city of St. Petersburg, suffered heavy losses in the late 1990s after falling into foreign currency debt.
The new results are a sign of the severe impact of Western sanctions on Russia after Moscow launched a military campaign in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, according to AFP.
According to Reuters calculations, Gazprom's natural gas supplies to Europe plummeted 55.6% to 28.3 billion cubic meters in 2023. Gazprom has not published its own export statistics since early 2023.
Exports to Europe have long been Gazprom's top source of income, but after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, European countries sought to reduce their dependence on Russian natural gas.
The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline in September 2022 led to the closure of the main shipping channel. Gazprom has sought to find new export customers, but building new infrastructure is expensive and can take years.
Gazprom, with the world's largest natural gas reserves, also faces financial burdens when expanding its domestic distribution network, according to AFP.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper