Gazprom for vouchers. Fifteen percent of the stock was allocated to Gazprom employees. The state retained 40% of the shares. That amount was gradually lowered to thirty-eight percent. Trading of Gazprom's shares was heavily regulated. Foreigners were prohibited from owning more than nine-percent of the shares. In October 1996, 1% of Gazprom's equity was offered for sale to foreigners as Global Depository Receipts. In 1997, Gazprom offered a bond issue of US$2.5 billion. Chernomyrdin, as Prime Minister of Russia, ensured Gazprom avoided tight state regulation. Gazprom evaded taxes, and the Government of Russia received little in dividends. Gazprom managers and board
Gazprom Neft These companies are developing fields in the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi autonomous areas and the Omsk, Tomsk, Tyumen and Irkutsk regions. Gazprom Neft also holds 50% stakes in three dependent companies: Slavneft, Tomskneft and Salym Petroleum Development. In 2010, Gazprom Neft partnered with Novatek to acquire 51%of SeverEnergia which owns Arktikgaz and Urengoil companies. In 2012, Gazprom Neft refined 43.3 million tonnes of oil. The company wholly or partly owns 5 oil refineries (the Omsk Oil Refinery, Moscow Oil Refinery, Slavneft-Yaroslavnefteorgsintez (YANOS) and two oil refineries in Pančevo and Novi Sad that belong to Naftna Industrija Srbije). The company operates around