(Releads with Gazprom confirmation)

MOSCOW May 15 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprom is
working on obtaining a listing in Singapore, possibly in July,
the company said on Thursday.

The comments confirmed an earlier report by Interfax which
said that state-controlled Gazprom, the country’s top natural
gas producer, was talking to the exchange and preparing
paperwork.

“We want to have another platform on which our shares are
traded,” Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said. “We are now
working on the question of obtaining a listing in Singapore.”

Gazprom, which is negotiating a deal to supply natural gas
to China, said it wanted to have another platform on which its
shares were listed. It did not give a reason for the move.

“I consider the chances (of obtaining a listing in
Singapore) are high, if Gazprom said it should be done,” said
Viktor Zubkov, chairman of Gazprom’s board of directors.

Gazprom’s shares are traded in Moscow. It also has American
Depositary Receipts listed on the London Stock Exchange
and traded on the U.S. over-the-counter stock market
as well as on the Berlin and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges
, according to its website.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes the negotiations with
China will be concluded before he visits Shanghai next week,
showing Moscow has alternative markets to turn to at a time of
tension with the West over the crisis in Ukraine.

Russia and China are still trying to iron out price
differences over the potential deal.

(Reporting by Oleysa Astakhova and Denis Pinchuk, Writing by
Megan Davies, Editing by Timothy Heritage)