Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Russia

Russia Calls For Common G8 Energy-Security Plan

Viktor Khristenko (file photo) (ITAR-TASS)

PRAGUE, May 17, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Russia has called on members of the Group of Eight (G8) most industrialized nations to adopt a common plan to guarantee global energy security.

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May 17, 2006

Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said in a statement, posted on the website of Russia's G8 chairmanship, that Russia hopes that at the St. Petersburg summit in July, G8 leaders will engage in "a serious dialogue" and "will not let the specter of the Cold War undermine common goals."

Khristenko rejected as misplaced criticism in the West that Russia is using its energy resources for political manipulation. He said Russia was seeking to end the Soviet-era policy of subsidizing energy supplies to former Soviet republics "not for political, but for economic reasons."

He said developed nations have to "follow common rules."

Caspian Energy Special

For a complete archive of RFE/RL's coverage of energy issues in the Caspian Sea region and Russia, click here.

HOW MUCH OIL? The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that the Caspian could hold between 17 billion and 33 billion barrels of proven oil. ("Proven reserves" are defined by energy experts to be 90 percent probable.) Other experts estimate the Caspian could hold "possible reserves" of up to 233 billion barrels of oil. ("Possible reserves" are considered to be 50 percent probable.) By comparison, Saudi Arabia has 261 billion barrels of oil and the United States 23 billion...(more)

How Vast Are The Riches In The Caspian?

Experts Envision A Future Beyond Oil

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