Other Russia Regional Conference Update
All over Russia, opposition conferences are selecting delegates for the December parliamentary election slate and voting on an opposition candidate for the March 2008 presidential election. Several of the conferences have been disrupted by authorities with the usual outlandish claims of emergencies and threats. In Kurgan, where a majority voted for Garry Kasparov to be the presidential candidate, both the library chosen as the site and the local Youth House backup site were beset by sudden changes in policy or repair activities in order to deny the Other Russia delegates access.
Other early results: Samara has selected Gennady Zuganov for president while enduring a Nashi rally outside that harassed our delegates. The Ryazan conference chose Mikhail Kasyanov with 56% of the vote. The delegates in Krasnoyarsk and Yaroslavl also selected Kasyanov. The regional winners will contest for the mantle of united opposition candidate at the Other Russia Congress in Moscow in the fall.
Read more in Other Russia Link to this item
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Gazprom and the EU
Gazprom and the EU
The Foreign Policy blog takes a critical look at how the Russian state energy goliath Gazprom is exploiting European disunity and weakness.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a 2006 press conference with Tony Blair, said the European Union needed to work towards a common energy policy to limit the influence of Gazprom, the Russian-controlled energy giant. Merkel’s statement came after Russia, unhappy with the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, turned off that country’s gas in the middle of the winter. Not long after, Merkel pirouetted and signed a unilateral deal with Russia to supply about 90 percent of German energy. Other large countries have signed similar deals (all under different terms). So much for EU solidarity. . . .
Perhaps anticipating this opposition, the Commission also presented a second plan that allows joint ownership as long as an independent operator controls one of the companies. In other words, Russia would have to create a separate company to distribute gas, while Gazprom produces it. This separation is insignificant, as both companies answer to the same master.
So, the Commission’s victory for collectivism appears to be a hollow one. Until more forceful steps are taken towards EU consensus, Russia will keep striking unilateral deals with European countries, making a common energy policy less and less likely.
Read more in News Link to this
The Foreign Policy blog takes a critical look at how the Russian state energy goliath Gazprom is exploiting European disunity and weakness.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a 2006 press conference with Tony Blair, said the European Union needed to work towards a common energy policy to limit the influence of Gazprom, the Russian-controlled energy giant. Merkel’s statement came after Russia, unhappy with the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, turned off that country’s gas in the middle of the winter. Not long after, Merkel pirouetted and signed a unilateral deal with Russia to supply about 90 percent of German energy. Other large countries have signed similar deals (all under different terms). So much for EU solidarity. . . .
Perhaps anticipating this opposition, the Commission also presented a second plan that allows joint ownership as long as an independent operator controls one of the companies. In other words, Russia would have to create a separate company to distribute gas, while Gazprom produces it. This separation is insignificant, as both companies answer to the same master.
So, the Commission’s victory for collectivism appears to be a hollow one. Until more forceful steps are taken towards EU consensus, Russia will keep striking unilateral deals with European countries, making a common energy policy less and less likely.
Read more in News Link to this
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