By
Under Russia's first post-Soviet president, Boris Yeltsin, Gazprom was not majority owned by the government but the state maintained effective control over the state gas export monopoly through a string of decrees and regulations.
"At one point we almost completely privatised Gazprom, and your faithful servant returned Gazprom to state control," Putin said at his suburban residence. "That is a separate discussion, but someday we will make a transition to Gazprom working under a different regime."
He did not clarify what he meant by "a different regime", nor did he say directly that Gazprom could be privatised.