In a speech marking the state gas monopoly Gazprom’s tenth anniversary in 2003, Putin stated his position explicitly, speaking of the company as one of the few strong geopolitical levers left to Russia after the Soviet collapse. Putin’s geopolitical preoccupations could be accommodated by sensibly preserving state ownership of pipeline infrastructure in the hydrocarbons sector, while allowing private companies to extract, process, and sell Russia’s oil and gas.
2003年，普京在庆祝国家天然气公司Gazprom建立十周年的讲话中明确了他的立场，称该公司是继苏联解体之后保留下来的为数不多的强有力的地缘政治杠杆之一。普京地缘政治的当务之急本可以通过保留碳氢工业管道建设的国家所有权和允许私有企业提炼、加工、出售俄罗斯的石油和天然气来实现。然而，普京却允许Gazprom公司自主经营，以阻止他自己政府早先提出的解散公司的建议。