Oao Gazprom said Tuesday that the Board according to the approved investment program for 2009, the total amount of investments will make up RUB920.44 billion, the amount of capital investments - RUB699.88 billion, long-term financial investments - RUB220.56 billion.

Oao Gazprom said Tuesday that the Board according to the approved investment program for 2009, the total amount of investments will make up RUB920.44 billion, the amount of capital investments - RUB699.88 billion, long-term financial investments - RUB220.56 billion.

The approved Budget for 2009 provides for the total amount of cash income and revenues at RUB3.72 trillion; liabilities, expenditures and investments at RUB3.8 trillion, financial borrowings at RUB90 billion. The budget surplus will account for RUB0.5 billion.

The cost optimization (reduction) program for 2009 provides for the measures aimed at cost optimization (reduction) to result in a cumulative effect of RUB11.3 billion, the company said.

Pursuant to the investment program for 2009, the prioritized production targets include pre-development of the Bovanenkovo and Shtokman fields.

Work will be done to pre-develop the Apt-Albian deposits of the Nyda area of the Medvezhye gas and condensate field, the Zapadno-Pestsovaya area of the Urengoy oil and gas condensate field, the Kharvutinskaya area of the Yamburg gas and condensate field, the En-Yakhinskoye, Zapolyarnoye, Chayandinskoye and other fields, the company said.

The gas transportation priorities are: construction of the Bovanenkovo - Ukhta, Ukhta - Torzhok trunkline systems, the Gryazovets - Vyborg, Pochinki - Gryazovets, Murmansk - Volkhov gas pipelines, and the SRTO - Torzhok gas trunkline.

A provision is made to allocate funds for the construction of the new Obskaya - Bovanenkovo railroad, the company said.

The document also provides for the allocation of funds to gasify the Eastern Russia: construction of the Sakhalin - Khabarovsk - Vladivostok and Zhigalovo - Irkutsk gas pipelines, GTU-2 Nizhnekvakchinskoye gas and condensate field - automated gas distribution station of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky gas trunkline.

Capital investments will also be channeled for upgrading the major gas production and transportation facilities, technically re-equipping underground gas storage sites, performing design & engineering and geological exploration, carrying out production drilling in fields. In addition, it is assumed that funds will be allocated for the acquisition of the rights to use the subsurface mineral resources in line with the Russian Federation Government decision to provide Gazprom with the licenses for the development of a number of fields on a sole source basis.

The long-term financial investment plan for 2009 contemplates the participation of Gazprom in the development and operation of the Shtokman and Prirazlomnoye fields, the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline sections beyond Russia, as well as in the Sakhalin II project, the company said.

In addition, funds have been allocated to increase the authorized capital of the Gazoenergeticheskaya Kompaniya in order to implement the projects of Gazprom in the power generation industry. The financing of projects implemented abroad (the Republic of Vietnam, the Bay of Bengal in India, Turkmenistan) has been taken into consideration.

The Company said it also plans to allocate in 2009 the funds for the acquisition of a 51% stake in SeverEnergiya's authorized capital.