A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector for August 2012
By Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas

Key points:

• Gazprom and the Lithuanian Government both claim victory following the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Institute ruling over Lietuvos Dujos
• Gazprom signs contracts with four Turkish energy companies to supply 6 bcm of Russian gas from January 2013, replacing the volumes given up by Turkish state energy company, Botaş, in October 2011
• Nord Stream AG completes the welding of the second string of Nord Stream pipeline and requests permission to conduct research in Estonian territorial waters as part of plans for the expansion of the Nord Stream pipeline
• South Stream could be re-routed via Croatia, bypassing Hungary
• Putin and Yanukovych meet in Sochi, with Ukraine planning to reduce its Russian gas imports and hoping for an (unlikely) gas price discount
• Gazprom CEO, Alexei Miller, held meetings in Belarus, discussed investments in the gas transmission system of Beltransgaz and the expansion of natural gas as a motor fuel in Belarus
• Statoil withdraws from the Shtokman project, ceding its stake to Gazprom – Will Total follow suit?
• Novatek announces a breakthrough deal to supply gas to German utility company EnBW, as E.On Russia confirms that it will buy gas for its power stations from Novatek, not Gazprom, from 2013

• September 14, 2012

The United States and its Western allies have persuaded Russia and China to support a resolution critical of Iran’s nuclear defiance in hope of showing Israel that diplomacy is an alternative to military force in pressuring Tehran, diplomats said Wednesday.

• September 13, 2012

ISSUE #34
09/03/2012
On 30 August 2012, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) Andriy Klyuyev said that the agreement on a free trade area (FTA) within the CIS can boost industrial production in Ukraine by 3.5-4 percent in the medium term, providing an additional growth of GDP by up to 2.5 percent per year. READ MORE

• September 10, 2012

Russia on Saturday soundly rejected U.S. calls for increased pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to relinquish power. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to prod Moscow into supporting U.N. action to end the crisis in Syria and she expressed hope that Congress would repeal Cold War-era trade restrictions on Russia.

• September 9, 2012

Russia has starkly warned Israel and the United States against attacking Iran, saying Moscow sees no evidence that Tehran’s nuclear program is aimed at developing weapons, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

• September 7, 2012

Russia warned Israel and other nations not to attack Iran over its nuclear programme, saying the use of force would be disastrous for the Middle East and have consequences far beyond the region, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

• September 6, 2012

Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in Kyrgyzstan on a working visit on September 20, according to the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, KyrTAG reported.

• September 4, 2012

Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan can bring its bilateral trade to $1 billion in the next two years. This forecast was made during the eighth session of the Uzbek-Turkmen Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation in Tashkent.

• September 4, 2012