January 26, 2006

On Thursday, January 26, 2006, the MICEX Index reached its record-high level of 1187.11 points on the MICEX Stock Exchange. The previous maximum figure of 1169.03 points was reached on January 20, 2006. The historical minimum of the MICEX Index, reached on October 5, 1998, amounted to 18.53 points. Since the beginning of 2006, the MICEX Index has grown by 17.4% (in 2005, the MICEX Index rose by 83%).

The growth of the MICEX Index mirrors the overall upward trend of shares in Russian companies. One of the factors that contributed to the improvement of the Russian stock market has been the liberalization of the market of shares in Gazprom, trading in which was launched on the MICEX Stock Exchange on January 23, 2006. The first few days of trading in Gazprom shares on the MICEX Stock Exchange demonstrated market participants▓ strong interest in the securities of Russia▓s largest issuer. The total value of trading in Gazprom shares amounted to 1.46 billion rubles (23.01.06), 2.53 billion rubles (24.01.06), 4.11 billion rubles (25.01.06) and 2.51 billion rubles (26.01.06). During the first four days of trading, the price of Gazprom shares on the MICEX Stock Exchange grew by 2.5% and amounted to 224.47 rubles per 1 share.