Neither super-rich, nor bankrupt

In 2018 Gazprom, Russia’s biggest state-controlled gas company, adopted the largest investment programme in its history. In 2017, the company also reported its highest ever revenues from the sale of gas and other goods and services. At the same time, in the period 2007–17 Gazprom’s capitalisation fell to less than a sixth, and its total debt reached a record level of US $55.2 billion in 2017. It is therefore worth looking more closely at the financial condition of the Russian gas giant, which remains a major gas supplier to the European market (accounting for 34% of it in 2017).

The purpose of the present report is to examine Gazprom’s financial condition by looking at its balance sheet, i.e. the changes in its assets and liabilities, its profit and loss account and its cash flows. The report also discusses the company’s mounting debt and dwindling capitalisation. Finally, it also looks at the consequences of Gazprom’s financial situation for the implementation of its infrastructure projects, and offers an attempt at a forecast.