Gazprom to increase investment program significantly in 2011
MOSCOW. Oct 13 (Interfax) - Russian gas giant OJSC Gazprom plans to substantially increase the size of its investment program in 2011 from that of this year's, Deputy Economic Development Minister Stanislav Voskresensky told reporters.
He did not specify by how much, but did say the program would be "substantially more" than in 2010. The government is pushing Gazprom to be more aggressive about cutting expenses, he said.
"If they [Gazprom] do not work hard on expenses, such an order [for subcontractor services] could harm the economy," he said.
The company's board of directors will meet specifically to discuss the investment program, Voskresensky said, though he did not specify when. He also did not discuss where Gazprom needs to be controlling its spending.
At the end of September, the Gazprom board approved increasing the company's investment program for this year by 13% to 905.23 billion rubles.