Gazprom will have to cut natural gas production by about 10 percent within the next four to five years because of the global economic crisis, Interfax reported, citing Deputy Chief Executive Officer Valery Golubev. Our view: Due to weakening gas demand in Russia and Europe Gazprom is forced to put on hold some of its projects. The production fall, however, is much more than it was expected earlier. According to different forecasts the Russian gas monopoly should have been producing flat in the next couple of years or show slight decline in its output. We were calculating with production 3.5% decline in the next 5 years. We see the news as negative for the company’s shares.