Latest Articles about Europe
Putin Calls For Naftohaz Ukrainy-Gazprom Gas Merger
Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has proposed a “merger“of Ukraine’s national energy company Naftohaz Ukrainy with Russia’s Gazprom. The proposal emerged during Putin’s April 30 meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister, Nikolai Azarov, in Sochi (ITAR-TASS, April 30). It was the seventh meeting, by most counts,... MORE
Hungarian Government and MOL Positioning for a Solution With Surgut
At its annual meeting of shareholders on April 29, Hungarian MOL oil and gas company cemented its defense against a possible takeover move by Russian Surgutneftegaz. With corporate and legal defenses in place, and a new Hungarian government firmly installed after the landslide election victory,... MORE
South Stream is Not a Ukraine Bypass Project
Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, stopped in Kyiv on April 27, following his discussions in Italy and Austria on the South Stream gas pipeline project (Austria Joins Gazprom’s South Stream Project, EDM, April 30).In Kyiv, Putin obliquely confirmed that Russia would not shift gas volumes... MORE
Austria Joins Gazprom’s South Stream Project
On April 24, Russia and Austria signed governmental and corporate agreements on Austria’s accession to Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline project. Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, led the Russian delegation to the signing event in Vienna, with follow-up visits to Italy and Ukraine on April 26... MORE
Gas in Exchange for Naval Base: a Boon to Ukraine’s Weak Economy
Moscow has agreed to lower the price of gas for Kyiv by one-third in exchange for extending the lease of the Sevastopol base for the Black Sea Fleet (BSF) by 25 years. The Ukrainian parliament ratified the agreement on April 27, despite protests by the... MORE
Russia’s Strategic Gains at Ukraine’s and Europe’s Expense
Russia’s new deal with Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet (BSF) and gas prices has profound bilateral significance, as well as for the CIS and even Europe. It ratifies long-term Russian gains at the expense of all the other players and continues to solidify Moscow’s... MORE
Ukraine’s Foreign Policy Turns East
With less than two months in office President, Viktor Yanukovych, has undermined a twenty year-old elite consensus on national security by, as EDM (November 3, 2009) forecast, introducing a far more pro-Russian essence to Ukrainian foreign policy than if Yulia Tymoshenko had been elected (EDM,... MORE
Jubilant Medvedev Praises Yanukovych and Threatens Lukashenka
Yesterday, Moscow achieved one of its most important long-term strategic goals –to secure a continued military presence in Ukraine by keeping its base in Sevastopol, Crimea. During a summit in Kharkov in Eastern Ukraine, Presidents Viktor Yanukovych and Dmitry Medvedev signed a barter agreement that... MORE
Belarus: Open for Business?
In early April, the reputable Business Week magazine focused on the Belarusian economy with a laudatory article that suggested the country had become a virtual Mecca for foreign investors. Belarus, it noted, has risen dramatically on the World Bank’s list based on the “ease of... MORE
Opposition Slams Yanukovych for Promising to Renounce Highly Enriched Uranium
Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, promised his US counterpart, Barack Obama, to renounce the nation’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU) during their meeting on the fringes of the nuclear security summit in Washington on April 12. In return, Washington offered financial and technical assistance, in... MORE