Four Russian energy companies have been included in the "Financial Times" list of the 500 largest global corporations, "Vremya novostei" reported on 13 May. Yukos, with a total capitalization of $18.7 billion, was the highest-ranking Russian company in 227th place. Gazprom ranked 250th, while Surgutneftgaz came in 344th and LUKoil came in 362nd.

The newspaper noted that the appearance of the Russian companies on the prestigious list can be attributed to the relative reduction in capitalization of leading transnationals because of the downturn in the global economy and the relatively rapid growth of the Russian energy companies. Meanwhile, the magazine "Kommersant-Dengi" will publish its lists of the world's largest companies, Europe's largest companies, and Eastern Europe's largest companies on 15 May, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 13 May.

(RFE/RL 16.v.02)