Gazprom Faces Default

Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom, which used to earn up to a quarter of the federal budget revenues, is on the verge of default. Judging from a document on short-term and long-term aspects of the financial situation of Gazprom's group signed by its Deputy Chief Sergei Dubinin, the company is facing the same problems as the Russian financial system did on the eve of the 1998 default. The company's budget is too small to allow it to handle all its credits independently. Borrowing new debts is the only way for Gazprom to save itself from total collapse and to avoid all the ensuing consequences for itself and the state.