New Year and Christmas greetings!

Esteemed colleagues, dear friends!

On behalf of the Gazprom Management Committee and my personal behalf, I would like to warmly congratulate you on the New Year and Christmas!

These cheerful holidays are connected with hopes that all our plans will be fulfilled and our dreams will come true. But better future doesn't come by itself. The success of tomorrow depends on how much is contributed to it today. This simple truth may be applied to the gas industry as well. In the outgoing year we did a lot for the future.

Gas production has started in the most severe conditions of Yamal. A new gas production center on the Yamal Peninsula will be the biggest one in the country. Natural gas from the Bovanenkovo field started its way to consumers via the unique gas transmission system. We are the first country to implement such a tremendous project in the Arctic latitude. This is the start of a new era in the global gas industry.

The development of new regions in Eastern Russia has continued. As part of the Eastern Gas Program, two gas production centers have already been formed in Sakhalin and Kamchatka, the next one is to be formed in Yakutia. In the outgoing year the final investment decision has been signed for the Chayandinskoye field – the cornerstone of the Yakutia gas production center. A gas pipeline will be constructed for gas deliveries.

While developing new regions, we do not forget about conventional fields. We try to operate them in the most efficient way, obtain the highest output.

In 2012 Gazprom's record-high investments in the gasification of Russia yielded a considerable result – natural gas was for the first time brought to another 429 population centers. In other words, one more gasified population center appeared in Russia every day!

We are also concerned about the promising future of our European neighbors. That's why as early as today we construct new gas pipelines which will secure uninterrupted gas supplies to Europe for decades to come. In 2012 we brought Nord Stream to its design capacity and started the construction of South Stream.

Esteemed colleagues,

I thank you all for the great work done in the outgoing year. This work builds up our successful future. Let the coming year be beneficent for Russia, for Gazprom, for all of us. I wish you happiness, wellbeing and strong health!