Russia's Gazprom sees core profit rising to $38 billion in 2026

MOSCOW, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Russian energy giant Gazprom GAZP.MM expects its core earning earnings to rise about 7% next year to 3 trillion roubles ($38 billion), the company said on Tuesday.

Gazprom said it expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of 2.8 trillion roubles in 2025.

It also said that its board of directors approved the 1.1 trillion rouble investment programme for 2026 the management proposed in October, below the revised 1.615 trillion roubles set aside for this year.

Gazprom's Deputy CEO Famil Sadygov said on the company's Telegram channel that the 2026 budget saw proceeds from gas sales rising by 8%.

He said the scale of EBITDA rise in 2026 was a "conservative estimate" that reflected improving natural gas and oil businesses.

|Gazprom said next year's investments will focus on further development of the gas producing centres in Russia's east and Yamal Peninsula, providing gas to households and increasing capacity of the Power of Siberia-1 pipeline to China.

During Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China in September, the countries agreed to increase annual volumes on the route by an additional 6 billion cubic metres, to 44 bcm, a year.

Gazprom did not mention on Tuesday the proposed Power of Siberia-2 pipeline to China.

In September, Moscow and Beijing also gave their blessing to the pipeline, which could one day deliver an additional 50 bcm of Russian gas per year through Mongolia from the Arctic gas fields of Yamal.

However, the main obstacle to implementing the project, the price of Russian gas, remains unresolved.

($1 = 78.1705 roubles)