A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Gazprom's Management Committee Chairman, and Anatoly Artamonov, Governor of the Kaluga Region, was held today at Gazprom's Headquarters.

The parties discussed the progress in delivering gas to the Kaluga Region.

A. Miller and A. Artamonov pointed out that the Kaluga Region had become one of the first Russian territories supplied with gas under Gazprom's General scheme elaborated by Promgaz, ? Gazprom's subsidiary, and intended to spur the efficiency of investments.

Under the 2002-2003 Cooperation Agreement between Gazprom and the Kaluga Region, Gazprom channeled RUR 321 million for constructing gas distribution networks in the Region, including 266 km of gas distribution pipelines and 63.5 km of gas branches. At the same time, 99 km of local piping were laid with RUR 102.8 million of budgetary subsidies.

As a result, in 2002-2003 gas deliveries to the Kaluga Region grew by 4.2% to 67.7%, 15% up on Russia’s average of 52.7%.

This year, Gazprom plans to channel RUR 155.11 million for constructing the Kaluga Region’s gas supply facilities. A. Miller and A. Artamonov discussed the possibility of allocating additional resources to develop the Region’s gas supply system in the 1st half of 2004.

The parties also addressed the issue of implementing a joint house building program in the Kaluga Region, intended for the gas industry workers resettled from the Extreme North. For the time being, the parties managed to construct a Maloyaroslavets-based (a Kaluga Region’s town) residential district of Maklino with a developed infrastructure for 7 thousand people.

In 2003 Gazprom delivered over 1.8 bcm of gas volumes to the Kaluga Region, to be increased to over 1.9 bcm in 2004. Annual natural gas deliveries to the Region grew 200 million cubic meters for the 2002-2003 period.

DIVISION OF RELATIONS WITH MASS MEDIA