April 8 - Chairman of the Gazprom Board, Alexei Miller, announced plans to begin generating electricity. The company’s stock rose by 3.8%.
April 9 - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov came out in opposition to privately owned oil pipelines in Russia.
April 12 - The government presented the Duma with a bill reforming oil industry taxes.
April 13 - The Samara Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal investigation of Samaraneftgaz, a YUKOS subsidiary. YUKOS shares fell by 3.9%.
- The president of YUKOS, Semion Kukes, called for shareholders to make up their minds about separating from Sibneft.
- Rostelekom announced good 2003 results according to Russian accounting standards. Nonetheless, the company’s stock lost 2.5%.
- Gazprom bought 40% of the Turkish company, Bosphorus Gas Corporation.
- The Gazprom Board of Directors met, but did not come to any decisions regarding the main issues on the agenda.
- Vympelkom General Director Alexander Izosimov announced that the company might face a deficit of phone numbers. The company’s stock fell by 5%.
April 14 - The arbitration court ruled that the Menatep group should return a 20-percent stake in the Apatit Company to the state.
- Megafon placed 1.5 billion rubles in three-year bonds. Their yield at maturity was 9.5% p.a.

This week began on the currency market with an increase in the dollar exchange rate, as the dollar grew stronger on world exchanges and Sergei Ignatiev announced that the Central Bank intended to hold back actual increases in the ruble. Despite high oil prices, the ruble lost nine kopecks for the week, the first time the exchange rate has moved outside of the narrow 28.47-28.54 range. Apparently, investors’ desire to buy dollars while they are on the rise created an additional demand for rubles. The IBC rate rose to 3-4% and the average level of correspondent accounts fell by $7 billion compared to last week’s levels.
The weaker ruble contributed to the dynamic quality of the domestic bond market. Declines were felt across the whole spectrum of ruble-denominated bonds. On Wednesday, macroeconomic news from the US led to increased yields on American bonds, and a weaker euro threw more oil on the fire. For the week, the yield on long federal bonds increased by 10-17 base points. In the corporate and sub-federal segments, liquid issues suffered most: Gazprom’s third issue lost 1.8% and Moscow’s 29th issue lost 2%.
Signs of increased inflation in the US led to active selling of US Treasuries. The negative trend also affected developing markets. The yields on eurobonds maturing in 2030 gained 10 base points for the week, and the Russian segment’s spread fell to 239 points.
The stock market experienced a long-awaited adjustment this week. The RTS Index lost 5% for the week, falling to late March levels. Trading was fairly heavy, and possibly this caused a further slump in quotes. Prices for blue chips fell by 2-7%. Oil industry fared the worst. Surgneftegaz lost 7.3%, while Sibneft and YUKOS lost 4.6%. Norilsk Nickel also struck out, falling by 5.9%. Only Mosenergo ended up slightly ahead, gaining 1.1%.

The Financier’s Date Book

April 21 Slavinvestbank places 0.5 billion rubles in bonds
April 22 The YUKOS Board of Directors discusses dividends
  Yakutia places 2 billion rubles in bonds
  Lenenergo places 3 billion rubles in bonds
April 23 The RAO EES Board of Directors meets
  Absoliut Bank places 0.5 billion rubles in bonds

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