20th May, 2005

Russian stocks saw more mixed trading Friday on slim volumes. Market participants opted for the sidelines on the last day of the week given the lack of any pronounced domestic drivers and the likelihood of a protracted outcome in the Khodorkovsky trial. The 3-man panel of judges is reading at a slow clip, only about 20-30 pages a day and they only work until 2 pm. At this rate, the verdict could take until doomsday, and Russian authorities have succeeded in turning a tragedy into a farce.

More negativity arose from what has become nearly the regular occurrence of tax claims as the Murmansk inspectorate for large taxpayers came out with a Rub 5.37 bln ($191 mln) claim against Apatit based on the results of a 2001 field audit.

The only RTS blue chip that saw much action on Friday was Lukoil (+0.3%), whereas NorNickel (-1.79%) and Rostelecom (-0.34%) marked time at their Thursday closing levels. The RTS index eased 0.99% to 646.50 on ultra-thin volumes amounting to just $2.2 mln.

MICEX trading was also largely downbeat with the gainers moving within a range of +0.2% (NorNickel) to +0.5% (Rostelecom). On the negative end of the spectrum, the band of decliners varied from -0.003% (Lukoil) to -1% (Sberbank). The MICEX index landed at 585.68 (-0.19%) on thin volumes totaling $562.27 mln.

Far and away the best success story of the day was Gazpom on encouraging statements from Russian authorities about the state gaining majority control over the gas monopoly and lifting the ring fence, albeit a little later than market players had hoped. Gazprom shares finally broke through the Rub 80 resistance level, jumping 1.27% to Rub 80.5% with 17.2 mln shares changing hands.

Finam
Russian Brokerage Company
http://www.fin-rus.com