MOSCOW — Gazprom shares will be liberalized by the end of this year, Dmitry Medvedev, the chairman of the Gazprom board, said opening a Gazprom board session today. "The liberalization will not only be an important and long-awaited event, but also an essential step toward the development of the entire stock exchange," said Medvedev, who is also chief of the Kremlin staff. According to him, a series of steps is required to make liberalization happen. In particular, Medvedev said the law on natural gas provision and other regulatory acts should be amended to make it possible to trade these shares on all stock exchanges.

He also said that the Russian government, as the main shareholder, would continue providing assistance to the company in this situation.