Electricity cutoffs in the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala, have become the focal point of social protest actions in the republic. The Dagestani electricity distribution company imposed restrictions on the supply of electricity in Makhachkala on May 21 and extended the restrictions to several other Dagestani... MORE

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has started to export its oil to European markets, under partnerships with Turkish and other international energy companies. Following a new consensus on the distribution of revenues between the central administration in Baghdad and the KRG, oil from the Tawke... MORE

In what is becoming a monthly ritual, the Russian leadership has publicly stated that they fear Ukraine will be unable to pay its upcoming bill for Russian gas delivered in May. On May 27 Gazprom's spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov stated "Naftogaz is finding it enormously difficult... MORE

Armenia is pressing ahead with its ambitious plans to build a new nuclear power station to replace the aging Soviet-era facility at Metsamor slated for decommissioning by 2017. The Armenian government has commissioned an Australian engineering company to manage the project. However, the key question... MORE

On May 17 in Sochi the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyp Erdogan concluded a deal on natural gas. Putin and Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller promised to proceed with the Blue Stream Two gas pipeline project in a revised version... MORE

Despite facing gas production shortfalls (relative to internal and external supply commitments) post-2010, Russia is multiplying its supply offers to European consumer countries through South Stream and other pipeline projects. Gazprom signed bilateral agreements on building South Stream with state-controlled Italian, Bulgarian, Greek, and Serbian... MORE

On May 15 in Sochi, Gazprom signed bilateral agreements with Italy's ENI, Bulgarian Energy Holding, the Greek DESFA Corporation, and Serbia Gas -all state-controlled companies- on implementing Gazprom's South Stream project for gas export to Europe. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the signing of... MORE

On May 20-23 Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Turkey. Bilateral economic ties were an important element on da Silva's agenda, who was accompanied by government ministers and leading businessmen. The visit highlighted the prospects for improving cooperation between the two emerging economies,... MORE

Gazprom's extensive network of loyalists, often act as "men of sacrifice," devoted to cleansing the image of the Russian state owned gas monopoly. Working out of a modern office building in Berlin owned by Gazprom Germania, a German registered company fully owned by Gazprom Export... MORE

Gas and oil supplies to energy-hungry Europe have always featured as the key topic in talks between Astana and EU officials, concerning Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship in 2010. Stifled by the precarious situation in the energy sector, the EU has often ignored the heavy-handedness of the... MORE