Dmitry Medvedev turned Gazprom, “a Soviet-era industrial basket case that made $670 million in 1998 into one of the world’s biggest industrial concerns, with profits reaching $25 billion last year. Gazprom is far more than a mere energy provider: it is a crucial political resource that has financed Mr Putin’s dream of restoring Russia’s international prestige.” The first joint project of Zarubezhneft and PetroVietnam could be the development of four blocks of fields in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, which has aggregate resources of 78 million tons of oil. “But the partners will have to compete with Rosneft and LUKOIL in the battle for the fields.” Russia’s envoy to the UN says that the UN Security Council will not sanction using force against Iran over its controversial nuclear program. Gazprom‘s CEO Aleksey Miller says there’s still no resolution in the issue of Ukraine‘s gas debt. While Ukraine announced mid-week it had settled the bill for gas supplied in 2007, it is still not paying for this year’s gas. Gazprom maintains that it will cut natural gas deliveries to Ukraine by 25% next week unless outstanding disputes are settled.