The oft-cited finance man Chris Weafer has an interesting, if not overly optimistic, opinion article in the Moscow Times about Gazprom under the next presidential administration.

Rebranding Gazprom By Chris Weafer The transfer of presidential power to Dmitry Medvedev will likely mark a turning point in how the world views Gazprom. For much of the last four years, Gazprom has been viewed with suspicion mixed with frustration as approval for projects to increase the country’s energy exports were often delayed. The huge Shtockman gas field is perhaps the most vivid example, mired in delays of more than three years over thorny European Union-Russia trade issues such as Russia’s stake in Airbus. The result is that until now, Gazprom, more than any other Russian publicly traded company, has been synonymous with the Kremlin. (This incidentally was taken to an absurd level when a heightened and emotional political standoff with Estonia about moving a monument to fallen Soviet World War II soldiers had a short-term negative impact on Gazprom’s share price.)