As bankers fulminate, and fuel protesters carry out their promise to bring the country to a halt (you sure about this ? - Ed), the real action is elsewhere as our old friends at Gazprom continue their long push for global domination.First up, Shell are rushing forward in BP's footsteps to get more deeply entangled in Russia. They'd like to invest even more at Sakhalin, and so they need to offer Gazprom a little sweetener - in the form of a gift of some assets. Doesn't sound much like a 'conventional' business proposition ? Hey, this is Russia ! Where a win-win deal means - heads we win, tails ... oh look, we win again.
But why puzzle over this in silence ? Courtesy of the FT EnergySource blog, you can ask the man himself - Alexander Medvedev (no relation), Deputy CEO of Gazprom. Here's one for openers: yo, Sasha! what's the mark-to-market value of your UK industrial sales portfolio ?
Sorry, a bit disrespectful there. Still, they like a joke at Gazprom, them and their musical energy policy. Turn off all the gas! What wags.
Don't mention the shale gas, though ...
ND
3 comments:
The gas story over there is one of one oligarch after another after another. They consider it's what's keeping the country afloat - therefore it's fine to play hardball.
Hmmm, what about the shale gas then? Are the reds backing the greens?
James - do you agree, though, that they'd much rather they weren't just a commodity-based economy ?
budgie - oh yes, a red-green alliance on this one (well - red-blue&white & green)
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