Gazprom's revenue for the first half of the year decreased by 1.4 times, to RUB 1.9 trillion.
In the reporting period, Gazprom's sales to Europe and other countries (with the exception of former Soviet countries) declined significantly. The company explained that the change was mainly due to the decrease in average prices denominated in the Russian Ruble by 38% and the decrease in volumes of gas sold by 17%, or 19.7 bcm. At the same time average prices denominated in US Dollar decreased by 42%.
Total sales decreased by RUB 1,173,603 million, or 29%, to RUB 2,903,148 million for the 6 months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019.
Net debt balance increased by RUB 516,317 million, or 16%, from RUB 3,167,847 million as of December 31, 2019 to RUB 3,684,164 million as of June 30, 2020.
At the same time, the company confirms that it is not going to change its dividend policy, and continues to consider it a priority, but the decision will be made at the end of the entire year.
Alexander Ivannikov, Gazprom's top Manager, confirmed the company's plans to adhere to the adopted dividend policy and its obligations to shareholders during a conference call following the half-year results.
Gazprom believes that the next winter will be cold, which will allow the company to significantly increase gas supplies, Ivannikov said. "So, let's hope that next winter will be a factor that will allow us to return to our qualitatively good indicators," he said.
To read the full story in Russian.