MOSCOW, August 15 (RIA Novosti) - Novatek [RTS: NVTK], Russia's largest private natural gas producer, said Tuesday its net profit calculated to Russian Accounting Standards fell 17% in the first six months of 2006 year-on-year, to 6.8 bln rubles ($250 mln).
The company's revenue climbed 31% in the reporting period to 23.7 bln rubles ($880 mln), while pre-tax profit gained 34%, to reach 8.8 bln rubles ($320 mln).
Novatek is the second largest gas company in Russia after energy giant Gazprom. Its natural gas reserves are estimated at 1.6 trillion cubic meters, and its oil reserves at 259 mln metric tons.
In 2005, Novatek produced some 25.2 bln cu m of natural gas and 2.586 mln metric tons of gas condensate and oil. The company's charter capital, which stands at 303.63 bln rubles ($10.99 bln), is divided into 3,036,306 shares with par value of 100 rubles ($3.62) each.
