Roman Kupchinsky

Also by Roman Kupchinsky

• February 15, 2006

  Putin's Petersburg Colleagues Make Up Today's 'Energy Team'

  For a glimpse into Russian President Vladimir Putin's views on energy and foreign policy, one need look no further than his years in St. Petersburg in the 1990s. The key players in Russia's energy industry today, in fact, are Putin's former colleagues and mentor from that time.

• February 02, 2006

  The Marriage Of Energy And Security

  The recent squabbles between Russia and Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia over gas have shed light on an interesting symbiotic relationship between Russia's National Security Concept and its Energy Strategy.

• January 30, 2006

  Does Gazprom Have A Master Pipeline Plan?

  Russia's state-controlled monopoly Gazprom is the world's largest gas company, and the 10th-largest company in the world after its shares rose over 13 percent on the London market in mid-January. But its ambitions don't necessarily end there.

• January 19, 2006

  World: Pakistanis Say U.S. Raid Killed Al-Qaeda Leaders

  (epa) Pakistani intelligence sources have identified three of four Al-Qaeda members who were believed to have been killed in a U.S. air strike on 13 January. U.S. officials tell the media privately that it could deal a setback to the international terrorist organization. But the missile attack on Damadola, a village in Pakistan's desolate northwestern Bajur tribal agency, also killed over a dozen civilians, including women and children. That has put Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf under domestic pressure over his role as a U.S. ally in the war against Al-Qaeda.

• January 17, 2006

  The Unrepentant Gas Guzzler

  One of the most important and overlooked factors of the recent Ukrainian-Russian gas war is that Ukraine is one of the most energy-intensive countries in the world.

• January 05, 2006

  Gazprom -- A Troubled Giant

  Gazprom, the largest gas company in the world, is the jewel in the crown of Russian business. It employs over 300,000 people and its tax contributions account for more than 25 percent of the Russian budget.

• January 04, 2006

  Questions Raised About Gas Deal Intermediary

  The solution to the gas conflict reached between Gazprom and Naftohaz Ukrayina raises more questions than it does answers.

• January 02, 2006

  New Gas Crisis For Kyiv, Europe

  As Russia's Gazprom cut off gas deliveries to Ukraine by lowering pressure in the main pipeline to Europe, it announced that all the gas to be exported from Turkmenistan in the first quarter of 2006 belongs to it.

• December 28, 2005

  Russia/Ukraine: Time Running Out In Gas Dispute

  Russia has been renegotiating gas agreements with other former Soviet states (epa) As the 31 December deadline approaches for a gas-supply contract to be signed between Ukraine and Russia, both sides appear unwilling to budge from their long-stated positions.

• November 26, 2005

  World: U.S. Allegations Of North Korean Counterfeiting Emerge

  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (file photo) (epa) As six-country talks on North Korea's highly controversial nuclear program continue, it is perhaps understandable that a contretemps between Washington and Pyongyang with considerably lower stakes has grabbed few headlines. But years of investigation recently resulted in a formal accusation by the United States that the government of North Korea counterfeits $100 bills, or "supernotes," as they are sometimes known.

• November 07, 2005

  U.S.: CIA's Reported Secret Prisons Stir Debate

  Accusations of prisoner abuse continue to follow the U.S. administration (AFP) Reports by the U.S.-based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) and "The Washington Post" that terrorist suspects captured by the United States have been, and possibly still are being held by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in secret locations in Eastern Europe has stirred up debate on the practicality and legality of such detentions.

• October 25, 2005

  Stolen Oil And Purchased Guns

  The Russian Interior Ministry says 'criminal gangs’ steal “at least one-third of the oil produced and refined” in Chechnya and that this oil is sold “to line ringleaders’ pockets, as well as to finance terrorist activities."

• October 12, 2005

  World: Predicting Terrorist Attacks

  What are the chances that attacks on the United States similar to those of 11 September 2001 will take place within the next year? Will terrorists strike the New York subway in the next six to 12 months? Can such events be predicted? What are the odds of being killed by terrorists?

• October 03, 2005

  World: Recent Developments In The War On Terror

  A restaurant gutted by one of Saturday's bombs in Bali Recent developments in the war on terror appear to resemble a pendulum. French police succeeded in arresting nine suspected members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Violence (GSPC); suicide bombers struck in Bali on 1 October; Algerians voted to declare an amnesty for Salafist terrorists still at liberty; violence continued unabated in Iraq despite the killing of a leading Al-Qaeda figure in that country.

• September 26, 2005

  Ukraine: Battle Against Corruption Grinds To A Halt

  Former government official Petro Poroshenko is one of those suspected of corruption Former Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) head Oleksandr Turchynov, who was forced out of office when the government of former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko was dismissed on 8 September, recently spoke to RFE/RL in Kyiv about the government's stalled drive to combat corruption. Turchynov charges that President Viktor Yushchenko himself ordered a halt to some of the SBU's investigations.

• September 16, 2005

  World: Water Could Become Major Catalyst For Conflict

  Writing about the 1967 Six Day War in his 2001 memoirs, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that "While the border disputes between Syria and ourselves were of great significance, the matter of water diversion was a stark issue of life and death."

• September 14, 2005

  World: Terrorism's Alternative Money Route

  Has any progress been made in stopping terrorists from getting money since Osama bin Laden (pictured) masterminded the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Before the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the international community began adopting a series of antimoney laundering regulations meant to stop terrorist organizations from financing their activities. These measures -- which obviously did not prevent 9/11 from taking place -- were further strengthened after the attacks. Have they been effective in preventing or even reducing terrorism?

• September 12, 2005

  Ukraine: A Conflict Over Gas And Power

  Petro Poroshenko following Oleksandr Zinchenko's resignation, where the president's chief of staff accused him of corruption The long-simmering conflict between former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko and the National Defense and Security Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko, which most Ukrainian analysts believe led to the dismissal of her government on 8 September, had already grown intense by early this summer.

• September 08, 2005

  Ukraine: Corruption Allegations Abound

  The president won't be looking over Tymoshenko's shoulder anymore RFE/RL considers the issues as Kyiv's political crisis erupts amid a widening political scandal over continuing corruption in the government.

• August 30, 2005

  Russia: Tightening The Screws With Gazprom

  Recent reports that Gazprom is negotiating to purchase oligarch Roman Abramovich's 72 percent stake in the Russian oil company Sibneft have renewed speculation about the state's objectives at home and abroad.

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