
Latest Articles about Europe

Time Running out for Ukraine to Meet EU’s Association Criteria
Both the European Union and Ukraine will lose if an association agreement is not signed this year, but European politicians would rather have Ukraine bear the responsibility for such a failure, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on his recent visit to Hungary (kmu.gov.ua, March... MORE

Gagauzia’s Head Urges Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan to Be Guarantors of Its Survival
Moscow’s latest moves against Moldova, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s call for opening a Russian consulate in Transnistria (politicom.moldova.org/news/russia-opening-a-consulate-in-transnistria-does-not-mean-recognizing-the-region-236048-eng.html), have attracted far more attention, but a speech by Mikhail Formuzal, the head of Gagauzia, to a meeting at an Istanbul university last week (regnum.ru/news/polit/1640299.html) may... MORE

Implications of Ukraine’s Gas Imports from Europe
According to Naftohaz Ukrainy officials, all the ongoing natural gas purchases from German RWE (see accompanying article) are carried out under a framework agreement signed in May 2012. This envisages deliveries of 5 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2013, with the subsequent possibility of expansion... MORE

Ukraine Importing Gas from Germany via Hungary and Poland
Denting Russian Gazprom’s monopoly, Ukraine is procuring small but growing volumes of natural gas from Europe. The German Rheinisch-Westfaelisches Elektrizitaetswerk (RWE) is providing the volumes through its subsidiary, RWE Supply & Trading. Ukraine’s neighbors Hungary and Poland are providing the transit services. The three countries... MORE

Belarus: Between Tangible Benefits and Make-Believe Policies
Recent events around Belarus draw attention to a chasm between the Belarusian policies pursued by Russia and by the West. This month, Russia agreed to retain an unprecedented scale of duty-free oil deliveries to Belarus. Under the current deal, Russia exports crude oil to Belarus,... MORE

Turkey More Cooperative with Western Energy Companies than It Seems
Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz has seemingly threatened Italian ENI—and, implicitly, other foreign energy companies—with retaliation against their projects in Turkey, if they sign offshore gas development deals with the government of Greek Cyprus while ignoring Turkey’s and the Cypriot Turks’ interests... MORE

EU-Moldova Association Agreement May Yield Huge Political Windfall for Filat’s Party
As Moldova’s pro-European parties in parliament attempt to prevent snap elections by negotiating over a new government, the country seems to be finally inching away from a political cliff (Prime.md, March 22). But after the political frenzy that toppled the Vlad Filat government in Moldova... MORE

TAP Project Surging Ahead of Rival Nabucco-West (Part Two)
The gas producers’ consortium at Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan is holding parallel negotiations with the pipeline project companies, Nabucco and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), to select one of these routes to Europe. March 31 is the deadline for submission of Nabucco-West’s and TAP’s competing offers to... MORE

TAP Project Surging Ahead of Rival Nabucco-West (Part One)
Among the roles of Gazprom’s South Stream pipeline project was that of aborting the EU-backed Nabucco, merely by threatening to preempt Nabucco’s markets along the same route downstream. Conversely, Nabucco’s European rival Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP) can abort Nabucco by preempting the gas supply source... MORE

Dmytro Firtash Launches New Opaque Gas Intermediary
For 20 out of the 22 years of Ukraine’s independence (with the exception of the period 2009–2010), the country’s domestic energy market has been dominated by opaque gas intermediaries. Gazprom’s Itera and Yulia Tymoshenko’s United Energy Systems of Ukraine operated during the first decade of... MORE