Russia’s Gazprom Posts First Annual Loss In 20 Years

Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom plunged to a net loss of 629 billion rubles ($6.9 billion) in 2023, its first annual loss in more than 20 years, as sales to Europe plummeted in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The earnings highlight the dramatic decline of Gazprom, one of Russia’s most powerful companies. I Photo: Thawt Hawthje Flickr

The earnings, announced recently, highlight the dramatic decline of Gazprom, one of Russia’s most powerful companies.

Analysts had expected net income of 447 billion rubles ($4.9 billion) in 2023, according to Interfax news agency. The company made a net profit of 1.2 trillion ($13.1 billion) rubles in 2022, the year Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to Reuters’ analysis, it was Gazprom’s first annual loss since the late 1990s or early 2000s, around the time Alexei Miller, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, took over the company in 2001.

The company, now headquartered in St. Petersburg, made heavy losses in the late 1990s after it racked up foreign-currency debt, inflated in ruble terms by the financial crisis of 1998.