At a press conference on February 28, former Belarusian presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich outlined details of tortures at the KGB Detention Center in Minsk. Mikhalevich had been released a few days earlier on condition that he turned informant for the secret police. Instead he used... MORE

On March 2 at his Novo-Ogarevo residence, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted the signing of a novel type of strategic partnership between Russian and West European energy companies, in this case Total of France.  In Putin’s presence, Total chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie... MORE

The mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed its work in Kyiv on February 14, but more difficult talks are ahead. Ukraine still has to prove that it qualifies for the next $1.6 billion IMF loan tranche. The government of President Viktor Yanukovych like... MORE

The meeting of the European Commission and the Russian government on February 24 in Brussels featured the largest-ever format in the history of such meetings. Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, and 13 members of his cabinet of ministers attended, as well as almost the entire... MORE

On February 24 in Brussels, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin led a governmental delegation for talks with the European Commission on the full range of EU-Russia relations. The Russian delegation lobbied heavily for EU endorsement of Gazprom’s South Stream project. It also raised strong objections... MORE

“Achieving the objectives of the Southern Corridor,” in the European Commission’s phrase (EurActiv, February 19), implies commitment to its strategic purpose. This is to supply countries along the Nabucco project’s route, from Bulgaria to Austria and Germany, with Caspian gas, thus reducing those countries’ dependence... MORE

After selling a large block of shares in Hungarian MOL to the Kremlin-connected Surgutneftegaz, Austrian OMV CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer’s final gift to European energy security is an agreement with Gazprom that interferes with the EU-backed Nabucco project. On February 21 in Moscow, Gazprom CEO Aleksei... MORE

On February 17, the stakeholders and supervisory board of the Russian-led Burgas-Alexandropolis oil pipeline project shelved the project in all but name. The host countries, Bulgaria and Greece, had (each for its own considerations) recently suspended payments to the project company. The meeting decided to... MORE

Launched in 2007, Gazprom’s South Stream project ran out of potential gas resources by 2009 (thanks primarily to Turkmenistan’s reorientation), and out of potential financing at the same time (due to Gazprom’s declining net profits in Europe). Since 2010, Gazprom’s Italian partner ENI seeks a... MORE

Moscow and Tiraspol seem intent on stonewalling the negotiations on the Transnistria conflict with Moldova indefinitely, and are marshalling arguments to justify the obstruction. For the most part, Tiraspol is fronting for Moscow in airing these arguments publicly. They are reaching ten years and more... MORE