Latest articles from Vladimir Socor
Recent Initiatives to Advance the Nabucco Project
While the Nabucco pipeline remains clearly the centerpiece of the Southern Corridor project, Nabucco alone—even in its second, full-capacity phase—would be far from sufficient to cover the rise in European demand for non-Russian gas in the next decade. A fully-developed Southern Corridor could achieve the... MORE
Hungary to Host Nabucco Summit in a Reshaped Strategic Context
Hungary is hosting a high-level meeting of active and potential participants in the Nabucco gas transport project on January 26 and 27. Top officials of supplier, transit, and consumer countries; international financial institutions; the European Union; and the United States are expected to participate (MTI,... MORE
German Left’s Politics and Foreign Policy in the Election Year
German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama (see article above) replaces the language of diplomacy with the rhetoric of the German Left. By reaching out to recuperate its constituency, the open letter marks the start of the Social-Democrat... MORE
Steinmeier Writes an Open Letter to Obama
German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier has addressed a lengthy open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on the eve of his inauguration. Published in Germany’s mass-circulation weekly Der Spiegel (January 12-18), Steinmeier’s letter is an unconventional diplomatic step and unprecedented in its pathos-filled style. Echoing... MORE
Ukrainian Law Bars Transferring Ownership of the Gas Transit System
Gaining some form of control over Ukraine’s state-owned gas transit system has been a constant objective of Russian policy since the 1990s. That 30-year-old system’s worn-out condition, its mismanagement, and the insolvency of its operator Naftohaz Ukrainy are providing Gazprom with a wide opening to... MORE
Russia Seeks Control of Ukraine’s Gas Transit System Through a Consortium
Russia and some circles in Germany are reactivating the idea of a consortium to control Ukraine’s gas transit system. Moscow hopes to profit from the crisis atmosphere it has itself created since January 1 by stopping gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine. Blaming Ukraine in... MORE
Russia Hiding Gas Shortfall by Touting Multiple Export Routes
Russia is using the gas supply crisis, which it has itself triggered, to induce a contest among consumer countries over imports of Russian natural gas. Russian-produced gas has become a commodity in short supply when measured against Russia’s internal requirements and its existing export commitments.... MORE
U.S. and Georgia Sign Strategic Partnership Charter
On January 9 in Washington, barely a week before the change of administrations there, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigol Vashadze signed the U.S.-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership. The document and the overall guiding concept primarily involve issues of hard... MORE
Uncertain German Perspectives on Energy Relations with Russia
Beyond the energy sector itself, natural gas induces structural dependency at the macroeconomic level. The pipeline mode of delivery is based on long-term contracts, locking in the predominant share of the German market for Russia. The spot market for natural gas, which could provide an... MORE
Germany Vulnerable to Russian Energy Supply Manipulations
Russia’s halt of gas deliveries via Ukraine to Europe in mid-winter underscores Germany’s dilemmas on energy security and policy. Those dilemmas are largely unnecessary and even self-inflicted. The country has allowed itself to drift—and to some extent be maneuvered—into a situation of overdependence on Russian... MORE