The Moscow Government has instructed Gazprom not to pay dividends for 2023, according to a decree published on the state company’s website, which reported its first annual losses since 1999.

On Monday, Gazprom shares fell more than 5.5% on the Moscow Stock Exchange, reaching the lowest level since October 10, 2022.

The company based in Saint Petersburg registered losses of approximately seven billion dollars last year, as its gas sales to Europe were halved, according to Agerpres.

Until 2022, Europe was the main market for Gazprom, but gas exports fell significantly due to the political consequences created by the war in Ukraine.

According to Reuters calculations and Gazprom data, Russia delivered a total of about 63.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Europe via various routes in 2022. Volumes fell 55.6% last year to 28.3 bcm, compared to a peak of 200.8 bcm that Gazprom pumped in 2018 to the EU and other countries such as Turkey.

Gazprom is the world’s largest producer of natural gas and one of the largest contributors to the Russian budget.