Industry news
The Russian government has liberalized the country's exports of liquefied natural gas by granting rivals to the state gas monopoly Gazprom OAO （GAZP.RS） the right to sell the product abroad, Intrfax News Agency reported Monday.
The move fulfills a year-old order by President Vladimir Putin. In early 2013, Mr. Putin said the days of Russia's old economic model of high revenue from energy exports had passed and called for the creation of new conditions for stable economic growth and in particular for the liberalization of LNG exports.
Speaking at a weekly meeting with his deputies, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that from now on Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft （ROSN.MZ）， natural gas firm Yamal LNG and Gazprom's subsidiary Gazpromexport will all have a right to export LNG.
Russia, despite having the world's largest gas reserves, continues to lag behind other exporters in tapping the high-value LNG export market.
The liberalization of LNG exports may prop up Russia's commodity-dependent budget, which is crucial at times of flagging economic growth. This year, Russia is on track to post a growth of around 0.5%, its lowest reading since Mr. Putin came to power in 2000, except for 2009 when the economy shrank under the global crisis burden.
