by Roman KupchinskyRussia’s Gazprom threatened to cut off gas deliveries to Belarus unless a debt of $244 million is repaid in July. The warning was issued by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller who stated that “we have sent a letter demanding that the debt be paid,... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyChina continued to forge closer energy ties with Turkmenistan. On June 25, 2009 the China Development Bank signed an agreement with Turkmengaz, the state-owned gas company, promising $4 billion in preferential loans for energy projects. Turkmengaz agreed to boost future gas deliveries to... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyFaced with lowered demand for gas in Europe and Ukraine along with collapsing profits, Russian energy giant Gazprom will decrease its 2009 investment program by 30 percent according to the newspaper Vedomosti. In dollar terms this means that investments will decline from the... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyThe head of Germany’s counterintelligence organization, the BfV, Burkhard Even told the newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag on June 21, 2009 that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, has been actively conducting espionage operations against the German energy sector. "The Russian intelligence... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyRussia’s Gazprom and Turkmenistan’s state-owned gas company, Turkmengaz, were reported to have begun negotiations today on changing the terms of the gas purchase contract signed last December. Russia is proposing that the contract be a “take or pay” contract, linked to the price... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyWhile many Western leaders have condemned the Iranian regime for rigging the vote in the June 2009 presidential elections in favor of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and for using brutal force to suppress pro-democracy protesters, Russia and China, as could have been predicted,... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyOn June 10, 2009 the construction of the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS-2) got underway. The 1,170 km long pipeline will run from Unecha in the Bryansk Region to the Ust-Luga oil terminal south of St. Petersburg. The first stage with an annual capacity... MORE

By Roman KupchinskyChaos and uncertainly seem to have gained the upper hand in the Russian gas business. On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, Gazprom, the Russian state owned gas concern, announced that it would postpone investments into the giant Bovanenkovo gas field in the Yamal Peninsula... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyRussia’s controversial envoy to Ukraine, the once head of Gazprom and former Russian Prime Minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin was, at long last, recalled to Moscow by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and offered a position as a consultant to the president. His successor has not... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyThe German Ministry of Defense has once again voiced its opposition to the proposed route of Gazprom’s major gas pipeline project- the Nord Stream pipeline. The Bundeswehr reservations were recently presented to the German parliament’s committee on national defense, in which the Defense... MORE