FACTBOX-Gazprom's growing global gas interests

Sept 9 (Reuters) - Russia's state-run Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's biggest gas producer, has been expanding internationally in a drive to become a dominant global energy market player.

Russia has transformed the old Soviet Gas Ministry into a company with a market capitalisation of around $120 billion. According to the company's website, the state had a 50.002 percent stake as of Dec. 31, 2008, with the public holding the rest.

The company borrowed $11 billion in the first half of 2009, and said in June it expected export sales to fall to $40 billion this year.

Here are Gazprom's international operations by continent.

EUROPE

Gazprom supplies Europe with a quarter of its gas, mainly through Ukraine. A row between Moscow and Kiev over gas payments led to a cut in supplies to parts of Europe for two weeks in January 2009.

Europe plans to diversify its supplies with projects like the Nabucco pipeline to bring gas from the Caspian and Middle East, bypassing Russia. Moscow plans a rival pipeline, South Stream, to keep Europe supplied through Russia.

Gazprom, working with Italy's ENI (ENI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), has so far received backing from Bulgaria, Serbia, Italy, Greece and Hungary for the pipeline that would carry gas from Central Asia under the Black Sea to Europe by 2015. Austria and Slovenia are close to signing up to the deal, Gazprom said. [ID:nLM937627]

GERMANY - Receives 42 percent of its annual demand from Gazprom, about 35.55 billion cubic metres* (bcm) of gas a year, making it the firm's largest European export market.