OREANDA-NEWS. OAO Gazprom issued its unaudited consolidated interim condensed financial information prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 “Interim Financial Reporting” (IAS 34) for the nine months ended 30 September 2006.

In the nine months ended 30 September 2006 our profit for the period attributable to equity holders of OAO Gazprom totaled RR442,296 million which is RR210,166 million, or 91%, higher compared to the nine months ended 30 September 2005.

The profit tax increased by RR71,620 million, or 79%, to RR162,294 million in the nine months ended 30 September 2006 compared to RR90,674 million for the nine months ended 30 September 2005. Our effective current profit tax rate for the nine months ended 30 September 2006 was 26.0% compared to 27.9% for the nine months ended 30 September 2005.

The net debt balance (defined as the sum of short-term borrowings, current portion of long-term borrowings, short-term promissory notes payable, long-term borrowings, long-term promissory notes payable and restructured tax liabilities, net of cash and cash equivalents and balances of cash and cash equivalents restricted as to withdrawal under the terms of certain borrowings and other contractual obligations) decreased by RR30,244 million, or 4%, from RR797,465 million as of 31 December 2005 to RR767,221 million as of 30 September 2006. This decrease can be explained primarily by cash repayments of long-term borrowings.