The Moscow Oil Refinery increased net profit almost 23-fold to 1.996 billion rubles in 2007 from 89.735 million rubles in 2006, the refinery said in a statement, Interfax reports.
The refinery had net profit of 257.554 million rubles in the fourth quarter of 2007 after posting profit of 1.738 billion rubles in the first nine months of last year.
The main shareholders in the Moscow Oil Refinery, Russia's seventh largest oil producer, were for a long time engaged in a conflict over the refinery's management. In mid-January 2008, Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) and the Moscow government signed a memorandum on cooperation to determine the management principles of the refinery.
Under the memorandum, Gazprom Neft (RTS: SIBN) and Moscow Oil & Gas Company (MOGC), which is a 100% subsidiary of the London-traded Sibir Energy plc, will manage the refinery on a 50:50 basis. Gazprom Neft and MOGC will make joint decisions on the main areas of the refinery's development and on key appointments. The companies may also consider a tie-up between other assets on mutually beneficial terms.