Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused oil companies of conspiring to force up gasoline prices, lambasting Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin for suggesting that higher prices were caused by a lack of products on the Russian market. ‘It’s not a shortage. This is not about a shortage. This is a conspiracy. They are colluding.‘ Separate to their embattled attempts to forge a deal in Russia, Rosneft and BP have collaborated outside of Russia, with Rosneft buying a stake in BP’s German refining joint venture Ruhr Oel. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin is suggesting that gas production taxes could raise the government $5.5 billion per year, amid ministry suggestions that the current rate could double. A Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker is being returned to its port following an ‘insignificant‘ radiation leak, according to Rosatomflot. The first North Stream pipeline has been completed.