Gazprom borrowed more than $11 billion in the first half of 2009, more than $4.5 billion of which came from Sberbank, and said Monday that its core earnings halved in the first quarter.

In a memorandum to investors released ahead of a eurobond issue, Gazprom said it expected a decline in its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the first quarter of “the same magnitude” as the 56 percent decline in the EBITDA of its oil arm, Gazprom Neft.

Gazprom said, however, there was “no strict correlation” between its results and those of Gazprom Neft. “We currently anticipate that the decrease in adjusted EBITDA … for the three months ended March 31, 2009 … will be of a similar magnitude as recently reported by Gazprom Neft,” it said.

It noted that Gazprom Neft’s adjusted EBITDA fell 56 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.