DaimlerChrysler

Stertz). Additionally, large-scale asset-stripping of Gazprom was going on by corrupt management and board members through various transactions involving the Gazprom daughter Stroitansgaz and the regional gas company Sibneftegaz. The $36 billion deception became the focal point of several lawsuits, including one filed by billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, and also a book (Taken for a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove Off With Chrysler, (2000) by Bill Vlasic and Bradley A. Gazprom conducted dubious transactions with Florida-based gas-trading company Itera and a Gazprom/Itera joint-venture, Purgaz, in the late 1990s, which allegedly benefited various management members and their relatives. Future cars are to share platforms across all of DaimlerChrysler's brands. The reasons were not clear and were explained either by an aging pipeline transport network, by a management that was becoming increasingly corrupt or by pre-existing losses that appeared because of more transparent accounting policies. This news came forth as new products such as the Chrysler Crossfire (using extensive Mercedes parts) and the Dodge Sprinter/Freightliner Sprinter (a rebadged Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van came to market. Furthermore, the company's records started showing a loss for the first time at this point in time.

In 2003 however, it was revealed by the Detroit News that the "merger of equals" was, in fact, a buyout. When tax prosecutors started to seize assets of Gazprom, the company had to give in and pay. In 2002, the merged company appeared to run two independent product lines, with few signs of corporate integration. At the same time, the Russian government suddenly started demanding billions of dollars in back taxes from Gazprom. . In 1998 Chernomyrdin was fired from his position by Russia's Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin. Its stake in Mitsubishi was 37%, but because it did not participate in a new capital increase in April 2004, it is now at 22%. Gazprom slowly established credibility in the western capital markets with an offering of 1% of its equity to foreigners in October 1996 in the form of London Depository Receipts and a successful large bond issue of US$ 2.5 billion in 1997.

DaimlerChrysler also has a stake in the Japanese car company Mitsubishi as well as the car operations of Korean manufacturer Hyundai. However, trading these shares was extremely heavily regulated and the by-laws of the company prohibited foreigners to own more than 9% of the shares. The Chrysler Group (Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge) also provides its customers with parts and accessories marketed under the Mopar® brand name. As the new government was committed to economic reform, Gazprom began to be privatized, becoming a joint-stock company in November 1992, and starting to distribute shares under the voucher method, where every Russian citizen received vouchers to purchase shares of formerly state-owned companies. The company produces cars and trucks under the brands Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, Mercedes-Benz, Smart, and Maybach, among others. After the new Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed Chernomirdin to be his Prime Minister in December 1992, the political influence of Gazprom increased markedly. The buyout was announced as a "merger of equals" on May 7 but actually took place on November 12 and was not revealed to be a buyout until 2003. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Gazprom lost a large part of its assets outside of Russia - one third of its pipelines and one fourth of its compression capacity.

DaimlerChrysler was formed in 1998 by the buyout of the Chrysler Corporation (USA) by Daimler-Benz (Germany). Viktor Chernomyrdin was made head of the operation. DaimlerChrysler AG (Xetra: DCX), NYSE: DCX, has its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and is a prominent automobile and truck manufacturer. In July 1989, as part of his economic reforms, President Mikhail Gorbachev combined the ministries for oil and gas, and later carved out Gazprom as the entity responsible for gas production, distribution and sales. Sold in August 2004 for US$900,000,000. Gas exploration, development and distribution were centralized in a state ministry. 10.5% Hyundai Motor Company - Bought in 2000 and 2001 for US$572,000,000. Due to large natural gas reserves discovered in Siberia, in the Urals and in the Volga region in the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union became a major gas producer.

Freightliner, LLC. . 43% Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation of Japan. Gazprom supplies almost all the gas needs of central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. 30.2% EADS, a parent company of Airbus (as of September 2002). With sales of US$ 31 billion in 2004, it accounts for about 94% of Russian natural gas production and with reserves of 17,800 km³, it controls 25% of the world's gas reserves. 37.1% Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan (currently being sold). Газпром, sometimes transcribed as Gasprom) is a major Russian company and the biggest natural gas extractor.

Detroit Diesel. Gazprom (russ. MTU Friedrichshafen. Engine Brands