Gazprom's Management Committee reviewed today the progress in registration of the Company's ownership rights for land where corporate real property is located.

The Management Committee commissioned Gazprom's core-business departments to keep on obtaining registration certificates for land with the corporate gas industry facilities on as well as reducing the land purchase price and amending the existing legislation in order to restrict the lease value of land used for the construction and operation of the United Gas Transmission System facilities.

In addition, the Management Committee ordered to step up a string of measures aimed at ensuring the corporate land ownership rights. The measures include:

• tightening control over the quality of design and estimate documentation and the gas supply facilities construction and acceptance
• devising in the 4th quarter 2004 the gas industry standard on geodesic positioning of Gazprom's facilities
• determining (in accordance with the gas industry standard adopted) the virtual location of all Gazprom's facilities brought into operation and undergoing construction

At the same time, Gazprom's Management Committee Chairman should receive in the 1st quarter 2005 proposals on the creation of an intra-corporate geographical information system based on data obtained in the course of Gazprom's land ownership rights registration.

The Management Committee also debated the construction of key facilities to be commissioned in 2004 as well as the preparation of design and construction documents on gas facilities included in the Company's future investment programs.

Reference:

Gazprom's facilities occupy a total area of over 68 thousand hectares (some 36 thousand land parcels). It was the Company's subsidiaries that used to be responsible for obtaining land registration certificates and owned most of the corporate land (some 71%). However, under the RF Land Code dated 25 October 2001, an exclusive right to privatize and lease land was granted to individuals and legal entities - proprietors of buildings and installations located on this land. In consequence, due to the above-mentioned as well as in accordance with the Federal Law on the RF Land Code Reinforcement, Gazprom and its subsidiaries were committed to re-register permanent (unlimited) land use rights to the right to lease or acquire the land. Re-registration should be completed before 1 January 2006.

While doing the aforementioned, the Company will also meet the following 2 challenges:

• localize unused, non-rationally used or non-purposefully used land with the view of returning excess land to its owner
• conduct survey of all the existing facilities being part of the gas main infrastructure in order to determine the virtual position of gas pipelines and submit these data to local authorities

At present, survey has been largely finalized in all the RF regions where Gazprom has immovable property. Upon full completion of land survey and registration, Gazprom will have to enter into state-registered land lease contracts.

DIVISION OF RELATIONS WITH MASS MEDIA