Microsoft? General Motors? ExxonMobil? Which is the world’s biggest corporation anyway? Few would think to pick the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, but that is exactly the position that this energy powerhouse expects to occupy by 2014, according to former Gazprom chair, Dimitri Medvedev. Vladimir Putin plucked Medvedev from the corporation to be his replacement as President when term limitations forced him to shift jobs to Prime Minister. With energy prices rocketing out of control and Gazprom controlling vast fields of natural gas, 17 major underground pipelines and enjoying a monopoly in the export of billions of dollars’ worth of the stuff to points West, there are few business journalists who would dare disagree. The company employs 432,000 workers and provides 20 per cent of the Russian budget through taxes on its activities. Gazprom also controls a good hunk of Russia’s massive oil reserves (third only to the Saudis and Iran) thanks to its acquisition of the oil company Sibneft.
Gazprom is an odd beast. In some ways it recalls an old Soviet-style centralized industry – it is 51-per-cent controlled by the Russian state. In others it resembles a sophisticated publicly traded corporation, with model labour relations and increasing international clout. From its palatial headquarters on the outskirts of Moscow, Gazprom is wheeling and dealing outside Russian borders, lining up gas and oil supply in Algeria and Libya and signing gas contracts anywhere from Sweden to Turkey. Like any major corporate player, it worries about its image, especially after having to throw its weight around with those reluctant to pay escalating energy prices. So it has hired a phalanx of Western PR companies, including the venerable Hill and Knowlton, led by former British Nuclear Fuels PR chief, Philip Dewhurst.
