Energy Giant Gazprom Tops Russia's 100 Most Capitalized Companies Rating

MOSCOW, (Sputnik) — Russian energy giant Gazprom tops the country’s 100 most capitalized companies rating, created by the RIA rating agency and published on Monday.

Gazprom’s market capitalization at the end of 2014 was estimated at $55.3 billion.

Russia’s major oil company Rosneft is ranked second with $36.8 billion capitalization, while LUKoil is third in the list.

Overall, the top-100 fell in price by 47 percent during 2014 – the companies are now worth $430.7 billion in total. The oil and gas sector retains the largest share in the rating.

During the past year, only 12 companies managed to increase their market capitalization. The leader in this aspect is RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminum company. Its market capitalization almost doubled in 2014.

“The metallurgical industry companies have strengthened their positions. Companies mining precious metals and diamonds also went up in the rating. Trading companies looked good against others. Meanwhile, oil and gas companies remain the most expensive companies in the country,” RIA rating said.

RIA rating experts say that the decline in the top-100 companies’ joint price is connected with the current geopolitical situation over the Ukrainian crisis, the weakening of the ruble and the outflow of foreign investment as a result.

The agency’s experts analyzed the companies based on data from the Moscow stock exchange and foreign trading platforms.

The agency expects that in 2015 price of the majority of Russian companies will increase due to some improvement of the geopolitical situation and stabilization of the oil market.