Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Azerbaijan

Poland, Ukraine Announce Plans For Energy Summit

Presidents Yushchenko (left) and Kaczynski in Plock (epa)

March 7, 2007 -- The presidents of Poland and Ukraine have announced plans for a five-country energy summit in May.

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March 07, 2007

Polish President Lech Kaczynski made the announcement today after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko in the Polish city of Plock.

Kaczynski said he hoped that Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia will join the summit.

Kaczynski said the summit would envision "a great undertaking" to import oil from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to Poland -- via Georgia and Ukraine.

Yushchenko is in Poland for talks with Kaczynski aimed at reducing both countries' dependency on Russian energy.

The talks focused on plans to extend Ukraine's Odesa-Brody oil pipeline to Plock, home to the Polish oil company PKN Orlen's main refinery. Orlen currently relies on supplies from Russia.

(AP, dpa, Interfax)

The Post-Soviet Petrostate

The oil-export terminal at Primorsk, Russia (TASS)

WEALTH AND POWER. At an RFE/RL briefing in Washington on January 24, Freedom House Director of Studies Christopher Walker and RFE/RL regional analyst Daniel Kimmage argued that energy-sector wealth is preventing many former Soviet countries -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan -- from developing strong democratic institutions.

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Listen to the entire briefing (about 90 minutes):
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