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The government’s view, as expressed by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov at a meeting with the President, is that this step will make the company more transparent, attractive to investors and better adapted to market conditions.

The state, which controls more than 50 percent of the shares in Gazprom, one of Russia’s biggest companies, wants to see the company’s capitalisation increase. The plan the government proposes would retain state control over the company and the sector by swapping part of the shares in Gazprom for assets belonging to oil company Rosneft.

The share swap would be the first step towards liberalising trade in Gazprom shares on the external market. Rosneft would effectively become a Gazprom subsidiary company.

Mr Putin firmly believes that double regulation should come to an end. The quicker this is done and the more market-oriented the tools used to achieve it, the better, the President said.