Turkey and Russia have signed 17 agreements, worth $25 billion, on cooperation in energy and other fields, including a pipeline from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and a nuclear power plant. Russia will have a controlling stake in the plant which will reportedly take seven years to build and cost $20 billion. Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko has apparently suggested that Russia may consider consolidating the Burgas-Alexandroupolis and Samsun-Ceyhan projects. ‘Who’s in charge of America’s Arctic policy’? wonders this op-ed. Refineries in Ukraine increased their overall crude refining volume by 10.1% in the first four months of the year compared to the same period in 2009. A Ukrainian deputy prime minister has said that Ukraine has no plans to sign any energy agreements with Russia during an official visit by President Dmitry Medvedev next week.