TODAY: Kiev and Moscow to discuss gas contract as Ukrainians protest return to Russian influence; Serbian South Stream section underway; state giant price freezes; disappearing state funds; Greenpeace, Bolotnaya Square, Sochi.

‘Tens of thousands’ of Ukrainians took to the streets of Kiev yesterday to protest the government’s decision to re-open dialogue with Russia and abandon its planned trade agreement with the European Union: ‘We already were under Russian rule for hundreds of years.’  But the move is already proving effective – according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, Kiev has finally secured a meeting with Moscow to review their existing gas contract.  President Vladimir Putin accused the E.U. of ‘pressure’ and ‘blackmail’ in the wake of Ukraine’s decision, but defended Russia’s stance, saying that Russia would have had no choice but to restrict Ukrainian exports if it had gone ahead with its E.U. deal.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to speak to Putin about the Kremlin’s pressure on former Soviet Republics in response to their efforts to forge ties with Europe: ‘We’re going to have to speak with Russia so that there isn’t always this situation where it’s either/or.’  How will Europe cope with the high volume of Russian diesel that is due to flood its market once Russia’s new distillation units are ready for use?  The Serbian section of the South Stream natural gas pipeline is underway, as the President praised the project: ‘Russian gas is the realization of Serbia’s energy dream’.  Bloomberg discusses Vladimir Putin’s plan to freeze prices at powerful state companies like Gazprom, starting next year, in a widely unpopular bid to boost efficiency.  The FT slams Russia’s ‘innocuous-sounding projects such as the “customs union” [which] have only one aim: pass sovereignty to Russia and destroy competitive industries in the neighbourhood.’