A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector
By Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas and Lecturer in Energy Politics at the European University of St Petersburg

Key points:

• Gazprom prepares to settle in EU Antitrust investigation
• Gazprom finalises asset-swap with BASF Wintershall, with deal approved by EU competition watchdog
• Russia offers Ukraine 33 percent discount on gas price as part of package designed to keep Ukraine in Russia’s political orbit
• Nord Stream: EU and Gazprom to agree terms for use of OPAL pipeline in early 2014
• South Stream faces legal hurdles as European Commission claims aspects of South Stream’s intergovernmental agreements are in breach of EU law
• Gazprom fails to conclude deal with CNPC before year end
• Gazprom opens representative office in Brussels

• January 8, 2014

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during December 1-31st 2013
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Investigators and police believed to be tied to the Gulen Movement arrest dozens with ties to government and big business in Turkey, including the sons of three cabinet ministers.
• Prime Minister Erdogan forces the resignation of nine cabinet members, some going quietly, others like Environment and Urban Planning Minister Bayrraktar condemned the prime minister himself for seeking the cabinet shuffle.
• State-owned Halkbank’s connections with a money laundering scheme for the Iranian nuclear program threaten to alienate Turkey’s Western allies.
• The political uncertainty emanating from the investigations and subsequent interference with the judiciary by the prime minister have caused sharp drops in Turkey’s markets. The lira closes the year out near a record low.

• January 4, 2014

The European Union sought to calm fears in countries like Britain, France and Germany that they face a mass influx of Romanians and Bulgarians following the lifting of restrictions on Wednesday, a change that risks fuelling anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe.

• January 3, 2014

Catalonia's president has called on European Union prime ministers for support as the region seeks a vote on independence in November this year, the source of an increasingly bitter fight with Spain's central government.

• January 3, 2014

China's increasingly sophisticated military will establish a joint operational command structure for its forces to improve coordination between different parts of the country's defense system, the official China Daily reported on Friday.

• January 3, 2014

China said on Monday that its leaders will not meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after his visit to a shrine seen by critics as a symbol of Tokyo's wartime aggression, underscoring the deteriorating ties between Asia's two biggest economies.

• December 30, 2013

One spring day in 2011 five people gathered around a small table at the Adlon Hotel in Berlin and hatched the beginnings of a plan to get former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky out of prison.

• December 27, 2013

Six more of the 30 Greenpeace activists arrested in a protest over Arctic oil drilling left Russia on Friday after being granted an amnesty, the environmental group said.

• December 27, 2013