The Russian gas giant Gazprom is considering the dismissal of more than a thousand employees employed in the administration, confirmed the spokesperson of the company, which was shaken by the loss of exports to Europe.
Ukraine ended decades-old Russian gas transit agreements on January 1 – deals that brought billions of dollars to both Kiev and Moscow – in an attempt to cut revenues for Russia, which launched the invasion nearly three years ago.
Gazprom's spokesperson confirmed to AFP the authenticity of the letter circulating in the Russian media in which a senior official proposes to lay off about 40 percent of the jobs at the company's headquarters in St. Petersburg.
In a letter dated December 23, 2024 to Gazprom head Alexei Miller, the company's deputy president Yelena Ilyukhina said the company should reduce the number of employees at its headquarters from "more than 4.100" to "2.500 employees."
"The challenges facing Gazprom Group require reducing the time needed for preparation and decision-making," Ilyukhina said in the letter, criticizing "excessive bureaucratic processes" and outlining the proposed cuts.
The proposed layoffs will not affect employees in production facilities.
Gazprom, once one of the main sources of income for the Russian government, posted a net loss of nearly $2023 billion in XNUMX, the company's first loss in more than two decades.
The company has a monopoly on the export of Russian gas through pipelines and is trying to divert its supplies to new markets.
Russia covered almost 45 percent of the total gas imports into the EU in 2021, and in 2023 this would fall to below 15 percent, according to EU statistics.
Brussels wants the EU to completely reduce the use of Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
Gazprom has increased sales to China in recent years, but Beijing has yet to approve a new long-term supply contract or a contract to build a new major gas pipeline.
The long-debated project, called Power of Siberia 2, would allow Gazprom to divert gas to China from fields that once supplied Europe.
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