According to its own statements, the state-controlled Russian gas company Gazprom made record profits in the first half of the year despite Western sanctions over the Ukraine war. The bottom line was a result of 2.5 trillion rubles (equivalent to 41.63 billion euros), as the company announced on Tuesday. In addition, Gazprom now wants to pay an interim dividend.
In May, Gazprom had cashed in on its plans to pay a record dividend based on 2021 results, failing to serve shareholders for the first time since 1998. Originally, shareholders were to receive 52.53 rubles per share for the past year. That would have been the highest payout in the company’s history. Gazprom plans to pay 51.03 rubles per share for the first half of the year. Shareholders still have to approve the proposal on September 30.
In 2021, Gazprom made a record profit of 2.09 trillion rubles (about 27.5 billion euros) thanks to sharply increased oil and gas prices. Gazprom has restricted or even stopped gas supplies to several EU countries following sanctions. The group has also reduced deliveries to Germany. Gazprom gives technical reasons as justification. The federal government has described this as a pretext for a politically motivated decision.
On Wednesday, Gazprom plans to stop gas supplies to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline again, this time for three days. The reason for this is therefore regular maintenance work. According to Gazprom, the gas should flow again on Saturday. The head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, said the maintenance work was technically incomprehensible.
