Gazprom Neft (; formerly Sibneft, ), is the third largest oil producer in Russia and ranked third according to refining throughput. It is a subsidiary of Gazprom, which owns about 96% of its shares. The company is registered and headquartered in St. Petersburg after central offices were relocated from Moscow in 2011. By the end of 2012 Gazprom Neft accounted for 10% of oil and gas production and 14.6% of refining activities in Russia. Production volumes in 2012 increased by 4.3% in comparison with 2011, refining throughput grew by 7%, revenue was up 19.5% with EBITDA and net profit advancing by 7.7% and 9.9% accordingly. History Gazprom Neft was created under the name Sibneft () in 1995 by the transfer of state owned shares in Noyabrskneftegas (production unit), the Omsk Refinery (Russia's largest oil refining complex), Noyabrskneftegasgeophysica (exploration) and Omsknefteprodukt (oil products distribution network) from Rosneft. In 1996 and 1997, Sibneft was privatised through a series of loans-for-shares auctions. Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky acquired the company for US$100 million, after bidding through several front companies that had been set up for this specific purpose. Each partner paid US$100 million for half of the company, above the stake's stock market value of US$150 million at the time, and the company value rapidly increased to billions. The fast-rising value of the company led many observers, in hindsight, to suggest that the real cost of the company should have been in the billions of dollars (it was worth US$2.7 billion at that time). Abramovich later admitted in court that he paid billions of dollars of bribes to government officials and gangsters to acquire and protect his assets. Initially controlled by Berezovsky, Sibneft later came under the control of Abramovich. Sibneft twice unsuccessfully attempted a merger with Yukos that would have created Russia's largest oil company, YukosSibneft. The first attempt in 1998 failed over a management dispute, while second time round Sibneft's shareholders called off the deal in November 2003 after the federal government cracked down on Yukos despite the process already being well under way. In September 2005, Gazprom bought 75.7% of Sibneft's shares from Millhouse Capital (Roman Abramovich's investment vehicle) for US$13.1 billion in Russia's largest corporate takeover. In May 2006, Sibneft was renamed Gazprom Neft. In 2006 Alexander Dyukov was elected as CEO of the company and in 2008 he was also appointed chairman of the management board. His contract