RUSSIAN OIL PIPELINE OPERATOR REVIEWS LAST YEAR'S PERFORMANCE

MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian public pipeline operator Transnefteprodukt brought its crude oil shipments to 26.9 million tons in 2003, 5.1 percent up on the previous year, the company's PR department says in a press release. Of that amount, 17.6 million tons was exported while the remaining 9.3 million tons went to domestic consumers.

The Transnefteprodukt Board of Directors, chaired by Yuri Medvedev, Deputy Minister of Property Relations, approved the company's annual report ahead of a general shareholder meeting.

Thanks to competent diagnosis, repairs, renovation, and upgrading, the company did not have a single accident in 2003. Capital investment in refurbishment and upgrading programs increased by more than 80 percent, as compared with the previous year, to top 3.5 billion roubles (over 100 million dollars, on current rates). Those programs were financed with the company's own money, as well as with funds contributed by subsidiaries and with outside loans.

Transnefteprodukt was founded in 1993. All of its shares are government-owned. The pipelines operated by this company have a total length of almost 20,000 kilometers, with main lines accounting for 15,000 kilometers and branches, for just under 5,000 kilometers. Transneft delivers oil to consumers across Russia, as well as in former Soviet republics (such as Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Latvia) and countries of Western Europe.