Gazprom Boris Yeltsin, the Russian President, appointed Chernomyrdin, Gazprom's Chairman, his Prime Minister, the company's political influence increased. Rem Viakhirev took the chairmanship of Gazprom's Board of Directors and Managing Committee. Following the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 5 November 1992 and the Resolution of the Government of Russia of 17 February 1993, Gazprom became a joint-stock company. Gazprom began to distribute shares under the voucher method. (Each Russian citizen received vouchers to purchase shares of formerly state-owned companies). By 1994, 33% of Gazprom's shares had been bought by 747,000 members of the public, mostly in exchange
Gazprom to be , with potential to increase to . The Shtokman field is one of the world's largest natural gas fields. It is located in the central part of the Barents Sea, northeast of the city of Murmansk and west of the Yamal Peninsula. The field is estimated to contain up to of gas. Potential production is in the initial phases, with a potential increase to . Gazprom, Total (France) and Statoil (Norway) created a joint company Shtokman Development AG for development of the field. On 8 April 2013, in Amsterdam, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and