Gazprom's board approves '08 capex increase

MOSCOW, July 23 (Reuters) - Gazprom's state-controlled board of directors approved a 51.78 billion rouble ($2.22 billion) increase in 2008 capital expenditures on Wednesday to speed up development of new fields and pipelines, the company said.

Total spending will amount to 821.66 billion roubles ($35.23 billion), including 531.2 billion roubles for capital spending. The budget for long term financial investments increased by 59.75 billion roubles to 290.46 billion roubles.

For a story on the management board's proposal to increase spending, please click on [ID:nL15605956]. (Writing by Melissa Akin; Editing by David Cowell)