I love this sort of thing. No sooner had Putin once again sternly demanded the de-offshorization of the economy than the biggest state-run behemoths (under the direct control of Putin and his closest henchmen) immediately set about carrying out this de-offshorization:
http://www.bashinform.ru/news/597415/ The company's official website states: "The history of the enterprise began in 1948 with the construction of Plant No. 18 near the village of Bolshoy Allaguvat in Sterlitamak District" http://www.gpns.ru/about Today, its headquarters is located at: Republic of Bashkortostan, Salavat, 30 Molodogvardeytsev Street. Because Cyprus is obviously not an offshore jurisdiction, no. It's practically right next to the village of Bolshoy Allaguvat.
http://maps.yandex.ru/?um=yvT2eWjcsXugxUVjXNea19hB2Wxntctn&ll=53.265711%2C52.051968&spn=90.791016%2C30.779228&z=4&l=map A true classic: Vaska listens, but keeps eating (a reference to a famous Russian fable about ignoring reproach). So why would Gazprom register one of its companies in Cyprus? Access to cheap credit? Give me a break. Optimizing the management structure? Don't make me laugh a second time. Saving on taxes? Quite possibly. Setting up murky schemes to siphon money out? Most likely. Especially since the chairman of the board of directors of Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat is none other than Kirill Gennadyevich Seleznev, whose fraudulent schemes I was investigating back in 2008. So, as you can see, the skepticism about de-offshorization that I expressed immediately after Putin's address is fully justified.