Gazprom on Wednesday warned that the credit crisis could make it more difficult to obtain new borrowings and refinance its existing debt as it reported a sharp rise in first-quarter profits on higher gas tariffs and larger export volumes.

The gas group, majority-owned by the Russian government, said that the global liquidity crisis could affect its ability to obtain new borrowings and re-finance its existing borrowings at terms and conditions similar to previous transactions. It also warned that the crisis might affect the ability of some units to repay their outstanding loans which would then have an impact on management’s cash flow forecasts.