By Jack Sharples, PhD, Research Fellow of the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies and EGF Associate Researcher on the External Dimensions of Russian Gas

Gazprom Export launched its Electronic Sales Platform (ESP) in the context of an increasingly competitive European market. Sales volumes have grown, and have averaged 2 bcm per month since April 2019. As a result of this growth, the ESP is now a key part of Gazprom’s European sales strategy: It generates additional sales revenues, optimises Gazprom’s use of is physical export infrastructure, and provides a constant flow of valuable market data that informs Gazprom’s wider sales strategy. Sales are largely concentrated in four countries, while deliveries are split between Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian routes. ESP sales prices closely track European hub prices for comparable products, and the sales volumes show that Gazprom’s counterparties consider the ESP an attractive offering. The operation of the ESP highlights the crucial element of Gazprom’s European sales strategy: The importance of nuanced optimisation, as Gazprom seeks to maximise its sales volumes without placing excessive downward pressure on European hub prices that would impact revenues from its hub-indexed LTC portfolio. Overall, the ESP demonstrates how far Gazprom has evolved in the past decade, as it seeks to retain market share on an increasingly competitive European market. READ MORE

• December 22, 2020

President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Tuesday allowing Russia’s national legislation precedence over international treaties and rulings from international bodies in cases when they conflict with the Russian constitution.

• December 11, 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Belarus was facing unprecedented meddling by external forces and he called on opposing political forces to try to resolve their differences through talks.

• December 2, 2020

The Kremlin on Monday rebuffed calls by Moldova’s incoming president, Maia Sandu, for Russian troops to withdraw from the breakaway region of Transdniestria, saying it would be seriously destabilising.

• November 30, 2020

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies

The new war against the unrecognized Nagorno Karabakh Republic launched by Azerbaijan on September 27, 2020, has intensified discussions among the experts on the role of the external actors in the region. Significant attention was focused on the newly gained influence of Turkey as a supporter of Azerbaijan. However, as for now, the key player in the Karabakh conflict remains Russia, and most probably, this balance will not be changed at least in the short term perspective. READ MORE

• November 5, 2020

Russia’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday said it had rejected a string of “unacceptable” austerity measures proposed by the Finance Ministry that would cut some 100,000 troops.

• October 21, 2020

OPEC and allied producers on Monday pledged action to support the oil market as concerns mounted that a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic will hobble demand and an earlier plan to raise output from next year would further depress prices.

• October 21, 2020

Russia said on Wednesday it hoped to resolve its differences with the United States on extending a key nuclear arms control treaty, amid signs that the gap between the two sides is narrowing.

• October 21, 2020