MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Gazprom has claimed the first place in Forbes’ ranking of Russia’s most unprofitable companies for 2023. The list was published on the magazine’s website.

The Russian gas giant posted a net loss of 583.1 billion rubles last year, the company’s first loss in 25 years, the publication said. Moreover, Gazprom shares fell by 6% to 154 rubles in just one week after the financial results for 2023 were announced.

The company’s loss was “accounting based”, largely caused by the depreciation of non-financial assets worth 1.15 trillion rubles and foreign exchange losses totaling 652 billion rubles, the report said. However, Gazprom’s net cash flow from operating activities rose 5% to 2.3 trillion rubles last year, while the company achieved a net profit worth 1.1 trillion rubles in the first half of 2024.

The Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC) was second on the list with last year’s net loss of 71.9 billion rubles. The complex, which is being built in Russia’s Amur region, is a joint venture between Sibur and China’s Sinopec. By early September 2024, the project was 55% complete. Once completed, the Amur Gas Chemical Complex will be one of the world’s largest producers of polyethylene and polypropylene. Forbes attributed the loss to accounting factors including asset depreciation and exchange losses due to the revaluation of foreign currency assets and liabilities.

Ozon rounded out the top three, with a net loss of 42.7 billion rubles in 2023. Despite this, the company’s losses fell by 27% due to an increase in gross profit and the absence of one-time expenses, the magazine wrote. In addition to investments in warehouse infrastructure and customer acquisition costs, high labor inflation also contributed to the company’s losses. Notably, Ozon’s losses could increase again by the end of 2024, as due to the Central Bank’s rate hike, the company’s interest expenses more than doubled to 21.7 billion rubles in the first half of the year alone.