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 not represent the sale price of Mr. Berezovsky’s and Mr. Patarkatsishvili’s alleged Sibneft interest, but rather was a final lump sum payment in order to discharge what Mr. Abramovich regarded as his "krysha" obligations." The principal owner of Gazprom Neft is OAO Gazprom, which controls 95.68% of the company's shares, while the remaining 4.32% are publicly traded. 20% of Gazprom Neft's shares were originally owned by the Italian oil and gas company Eni before being purchased by Gazprom for $4.1 billion in April 2009. Alexander Dyukov is CEO and Chairman of the management Board. Alexey Miller is Chairman of the