Is it just me, or does the image to the right strike fear into your heart as well?  Talk about strategic lighting.

But there are other, non-architectural reasons to fear Gazprom, according to a new Forbes 2000 – a list of the world’s biggest and most powerful companies, which puts Gazprom as the world’s number one in terms of profits, which it counts as an annual $24.33 billion.

What’s most interesting about this new data are the discrepancies between profit positions and market value.  Gazprom’s profits put it well ahead of its competitors, yet it doesn’t make the top 30 in terms of market value, implying that despite its huge profits, it is a less attractive investment prospect than PetroChina or ExxonMobil…the implication being that Russian politics remains a deterrent, even where the payoff is potentially high.

Click here for links to all the data.