Q3 profit down four per cent for Russian energy giant Gazprom

Moscow (dpa) - Third quarter net profit for the Russian energy giant Gazprom fell by 4 per cent, company officials said on Tuesday.

Russia‘s biggest natural gas producer had a net profit slightly in excess of five billion dollars over the quarter.

The drop was due in part to falling European prices for natural gas and a weakening in value of the rouble, a company statement said.

Russian market reaction to the report was neutral, with Gazprom shares falling in value by half a percentage point, in line with a similar drop for Russian stock price averages in morning trading.

The financial statement came one day after Gazprom management announced it was reducing by ten per cent natural gas deliveries to Germany and Poland via pipelines crossing Belarus.

The reduction of Gazprom deliveries to the European Union was necessary, in part, because of increased gas consumption in Russia due to severe winter weather, the Interfax news agency reported, citing company officials.

Gazprom supplies approximately one-quarter of Europe‘s natural gas consumption.

Gas sales to Europe, by far Gazprom‘s most important market, have been under pressure in recent months as Gazprom customers there have sought alternatives to Russian gas, whose contracted price is sometimes significantly higher than spot prices throughout the region. dpa sbk hl Author: Stefan Korshak