I can't understand why the EU and the US blamed Russia for closed energy markets. Here what I see on today's news:

quote:

E.ON forms joint venture with Russia's STS UPDATE 05.24.07, 4:05 AM ET FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - E.ON (nyse: EON - news - people ) AG said it has joined forces with Russian energy company STS to form a joint venture called E.ON-STS Energia. Each of the partners is to own a 50 pct stake in the company, said E.ON in a written statement. E.ON-STS Energia is also aiming to participate in the privatisation of Russian state power company TGK-10 by obtaining a stake in the firm, in order to expand the new company's market presence in the region, added the statement. 'The upcoming liberalisation of the country's wholesale power sector will create an attractive business environment for investments in power generation,' the statement added. E.ON's said its long-term objective is to establish a strong position in fast-growing industrial regions in the Urals, western Siberia, Volga, as well as in central Russia. Russia's state-owned holding company, RAO UES, is taking steps to liberalise the electricity market, following estimates that the country's electricity industry will require investments of more than 20 bln usd over the coming 15 years.

E.ON forms joint venture with Russia's STS

E.ON sets course for Russian power market


Too pity to realize that all those countries who bashed on Russia during the renegotiation of agreements with Ukraine and Belarus, (saying that it neither has a transparent energy market nor allows foreign investors to come to it) didn't actually have any ground to do so.

or am I missing something?

The first problem is that Gazprom holds a monopoly on all gas exports out of Russia. The only two exceptions to the monopoly on gas exports was a Shell project to develop the Sakhalin gas fields and a TNK-BP venture to develop Kovykta gas field. Back in 2006, Russian regulators suspended Shell's lisecences to develop the Sakhalin field due to alleged environmental concerns. Interestingly enough these concerns were dropped once Shell agreed to give Gazprom 50% plus 1 share stake in the project. And as of today, liscenses for TNK-BP are at risk of being revoked and surprise surprise, Gazprom is interested in gaining a controlling interest in the project.

The second problem is this:



Gazprom owns all the pipelines that carry natural gas from Central Asia to Europe. And last week, Putin struck a deal with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on routing their gas exports to Europe via Russia rather than a transcapsian pipeline.

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Retro ...

lol Europe is screwed.

quote:

Originally posted by occrider The first problem is that Gazprom holds a monopoly on all gas exports out of Russia. The only two exceptions to the monopoly on gas exports was a Shell project to develop the Sakhalin gas fields and a TNK-BP venture to develop Kovykta gas field. Back in 2006, Russian regulators suspended Shell's lisecences to develop the Sakhalin field due to alleged environmental concerns. Interestingly enough these concerns were dropped once Shell agreed to give Gazprom 50% plus 1 share stake in the project. And as of today, liscenses for TNK-BP are at risk of being revoked and surprise surprise, Gazprom is interested in gaining a controlling interest in the project. The second problem is this: Gazprom owns all the pipelines that carry natural gas from Central Asia to Europe. And last week, Putin struck a deal with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on routing their gas exports to Europe via Russia rather than a transcapsian pipeline.

Hail to Russia! They are being smart! Cant criticize them, you know, because look at how other countries like USA are trying to achieve, successfully, the same. Except Russia is not killing thousands of civilians while its securing its resources and pipelines. Russia's not the only one who does whatever it can to control resources. At least Russia is securing its own resources, and the resources of its friends that it signs deals with, not invading these nations (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan), but using diplomacy and agreements to happily pursue their successful agenda. So eat it boys! Russkies are back!

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