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
Kovykta field the field to state-owned Rosneftegaz, but failed. On 1 March 2011, Gazprom bought Rusia Petroleum's assets, including rights for the Kovykta field, for $711 million. The reserves of Kovykta amount to 2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and more than 83 million tons of gas condensate. The period of active gas production in the Kovykta field is expected to be 30 years, and the period of field development about 50 years. The field was developed by Rusia Petroleum, 62.9% of which is owned by TNK-BP. 24.99% is owned by the power generating company OGK-3. The Kovykta field is considered