Month: October 2007

October 3, 2007

Gazprom Takes Back Eni and Enel’s Russian Assets

Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni (L) and Gazprom Vice-President Alexander Medvedev. Photo: Reuters Back in June, ENI’s CEO Paulo Scaroni told the Wall Street Journal that he was optimistic that the company would retain its stake in Gazprom Neft, which ...
October 3, 2007

Tom Nicholls: Ukraine to settle gas debt, says Gazprom

Ukraine will settle $1.3 billion in unpaid gas bills owed to Gazprom by 1 November, the Russian gas monopoly said in a statement today. The announcement follows meetings at Gazprom’s Moscow headquarters between Gazprom’s chief executive, Alexey Mi...
October 3, 2007

Goals Need Not Be in Conflict

A simple, yet always resonant point from a Newsday editorial: In a recent survey of foreign policy experts, Russia was picked as the ally that least serves U.S. national security interests. That’s partly Washington’s own fault. Since t...
October 3, 2007

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Oct. 3, 2007

Gazprom logo in front of Russia’s government building in Moscow. Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has warned it would cut gas supplies to Ukraine, which transports 80% of Russian gas supplies to western Europe, if Kiev did not pay over a billion...
October 2, 2007

Vladimir Putin and the Luxury of Retirement

Being back in the United States this week has me recalling my youth growing up in the Bronx, New York, where, like everyone else, I was a dedicated baseball fanatic. As it happens, today marks the 24th anniversary of the retirement of one of my fa...
October 2, 2007

The Nashi Brigades Move on Other Russia

As promised, the Kremlin-organized youth brigades are making life difficult for the Russian opposition – breaking up meetings, picketing their events, and threatening to violently crack down on any public demonstration. In this Reuters clip,...
October 2, 2007

The Siege of the White House in Photos

This week marks the anniversary of the 1993 upheaval in Russia, when Boris Yeltsin order troops to storm parliament. Slate is running an excellent photo essay that I recommend to readers. MOSCOW—The partially burnt out White House (Parliament buil...
October 2, 2007

Tom Nicholls: Gazprom threatens to cut gas supplies to Ukraine

Gazprom says it is owed $1.3 billion for gas deliveries in the first nine months of the year and that if it doesn’t get paid by the end of the month, it will start reducing gas supplies to its neighbour. Gazprom will cut gas flows to Ukraine if $1...
October 2, 2007

Good Gazprom, Bad Gazprom

Here’s a familiar routine of dueling headlines from Russia’s state-owned energy giant. IHT: Gazprom acts to reassure Europe on natural gas WSJ: Gazprom Threatens to Cut Ukraine Gas Deliveries It seems that Moscow is delivering on its p...
October 2, 2007

Sonya Sceats: Right for You, Right for Us?

Sonya Sceats, an Associate Fellow in International Law at Chatham House, has a new article about human rights legislation in the United Kingdom. Download the full paper here; see excerpt below: The Human Rights Act, incorporating into law most of ...