In 2009, Gazprom posted a record drop in production, and its exports plunged by 11%. But payments to the management board rose by 25% to 1.044 billion rubles (up from 834 million rubles a year earlier), according to the company's first-quarter report under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) published yesterday. Not bad. Quite impressive, really. The most infernal devils—from Gazprom and Transneft—also award themselves the biggest legal payouts. Which makes sense, really. How else do you explain the dolce vita? Very, very large legal incomes conceal very, very, very, very large illegal ones.