Gazprom has a new office in Manchester which supplies gas to 8,000 businesses, and hopes to increase its sales from £16m to £100m over the next year. Gazprom is set to begin exploration work in Kyrgyzstan in March, where it will explore and develop two fields. Anglo-Russian TNK-BP has at last procured access to the Gazprom-controlled pipeline system for the joint venture’s West Siberian gas fields. The European Union supports Ukraine’s attempt to revise its natural gas agreement with Russia, which would allow the country to sign a long-term accord, says Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Russia doubled the gas price for Ukraine in 2006 and raised it by 37% last year and 38% this year. Russian mid-sized oil firm Tatneft reported a 14% rise in 2007 sales and a 27% increase in pretax profits.