Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Russia

Gazprom Says Ukraine Is Stealing European Gas

Aleksei Miller, president of Gazprom, earlier this month (ITAR-TASS)

26 January 2006 -- Russia's state-owned gas company, Gazprom, today accused Ukraine of stealing more Russian gas meant for European customers.

TEXT SIZE - +

January 26, 2006

Gazprom released a statement saying the alleged siphoning "means a total absence of control in Ukraine's energy sector."

It's the latest accusation in a dispute between Moscow and Kyiv over energy prices and transit fees. The row peaked on 1 January, when Russia cut off supplies to Ukraine. That move also affected customers in Europe who receive Russian gas through Ukraine.

Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee today said that the signing of a new deal in which Ukraine will buy Russian gas at higher prices has been delayed due to both sides' failure to produce the necessary documents.

(Reuters, Interfax)

Gas Facts

Click on the map for an enlarged image.

Ukraine consumes 70 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year. It produces 20 bcm of its own gas, has a signed contract to import 40 bcm from Turkmenistan, and in 2005 was getting 29 bcm from Russia as payment for transit of Russian gas.
Ukraine sells some 7 bcm of gas a year to the West and places some in underground storage facilities. These facilities can hold 34.5 bcm.
Ukraine is the sixth-largest consumer of gas in the world and uses more gas than Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia combined.
Russia has proven gas reserves of 47 trillion cubic meters (tcm) -- the largest in the world ahead of Iran and Qatar.
Russia sells approximately 160 bcm to Europe each year. By 2015, Europe is expected to import 300 bcm, or 40 percent of its projected needs from Russia.
Russia's Gazprom is the world's largest gas company. It is the only company allowed by Russian law to export gas outside the borders of the CIS. It also owns the gas-transportation system and most of the gas fields in Russia.
The Russian state is Gazprom's majority shareholder , with a 51 percent share. The company's ownership rights changed as of the beginning of 2006, with Gazprom stock being sold on the open market. The Russian state, however, will continue to hold the majority stake.

Syrians in the northwestern town of Kfar Nubul pose with a cartoon depicting Russia

Angry Over Syria, Arab World Threatens Russian Boycott

Groups in a number of Arab states, angry over the Russian-Chinese veto of a UN resolution aimed at stopping the violence in Syria, have called for a one-day boycott of Russian and Chinese goods on February 12. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Protesters gather behind a banner reading "Honest Elections" during a demonstration in Moscow on February 4.

How To Rig An Election

A whistle-blower in Samara explains how the authorities fixed the Duma elections in December -- and plan to do the same in the presidential vote in March. More