OIl Transport Giant Transneft's Profit Declines

Russia's oil transporting monopoly Transneft's net profit under Russian Accounting Standards fell 23.9 percent to about RUR3.505bn in 2006 compared to a year earlier, the Russian oil pipeline company said in a statement.

Transneft attributes the decrease to expenditures in the fourth quarter of 2006 related to the write-off of unclaimed design and cost estimate documents in connection with changes made to the route of the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline.