ISSUE #33
08/27/2012
On 21 August 2012, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that, following the entry into force of a free trade area agreement within the CIS, Kiev is planning to start negotiations on access to the Russian gas transport system and possible transport of natural gas from Central Asia to Ukraine through Russia's system. Azarov said that such steps are envisaged by the agreement on free trade area, which allows launching negotiations on access to the gas transport system immediately after the agreement comes into force and reaching agreement on Ukraine's access to the “pipe” within six months. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 03.09.2012  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #32
08/20/2012
The Russian Defence Ministry is planning to equip the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea with six new submarines, according to an Interfax report on 16 August 2012. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 26.08.2012  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #31
08/13/2012
The official representative of the Investigation Committee of the Russian Prosecutor's Office, Vladimir Markin, said on 8 August 2012 that Georgia's authorities used Ukrainian hirelings to compromise Russian soldiers in the armed conflict in South Ossetia in 2008. Markin said that the Ukrainians “dressed in Russian military uniform and then scenes showing Russian servicemen attacking and robbing Georgian civilians were staged”. Markin added that Russia is going to complain to the International Criminal Court demanding an investigation into these facts. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 17.08.2012  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #30
08/06/2012
On 30 July 2012, the Ukrainian parliament ratified an agreement on setting up a free trade area (FTA) with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Lb.ua news and analysis website reported. The document was submitted for ratification by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 10.08.2012  |  External Relations
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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

Key points:

• Gazprom suffers a setback as the Lithuanian parliament approves construction of an LNG plant at Klaipeda as part of efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas, but agrees a gas price discount for E.On and extends contract with Moldovgaz, potentially halting Moldova’s implementation of the Third Energy Package
• Mixed fortunes for Gazprom in Turkey as the company wins the right to sell gas to private Turkish energy companies, but suffers a setback with the announcement of a Turkish-Azerbaijani agreement on the construction of the TANAP pipeline
• The Nord Stream project is on schedule for the second string launch in Q4 2012. CEO Alexei Miller suggests that Nord Stream could be extended to the UK
• Macedonia and Respublika Srpska reiterate their enthusiasm for South Stream, but the date of final investment decision and the application of the EU Third Energy Package remain unclear
• Putin meets Yanukovych in Yalta but refuses demands for gas price discount
• More negotiations between Gazprom and CNPC, but with no breakthrough
• Shtokman talks delayed with a result not being expected until autumn 2012
• Gazprom is ranked as the world’s most profitable company by Forbes, but only comes 98th of 105 in transparency rankings according to report by Transparency International
• Novatek begins construction of Sabetta LNG terminal in Yamal region, but claims no threat to Gazprom’s export monopoly
• Rosneft expands its presence in the Russian gas market with an acquisition of a 6 percent stake in independent gas company Itera

• EGF Editorial  |  Published on EGF: 06.08.2012  |  External Relations
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Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during July 2012
Key Points:

• Syria is in the grips of a full fledged civil war, with opposition forces assassinating the country’s minister of defense and other high ranking officials in a Damascus meeting of senior regime officials.
• Fighting has escalated near the Turkish-Syrian border. Turkish military units are being deployed as a precaution, especially in light of reports of PKK forces seizing portions of northern Syria.
• Oil exports from the Kurdish region of Iraq to Turkey continues to draw the ire of government officials in Baghdad. However, despite the disputes, cooperation on projects will likely continue.
• Azerbaijan’s energy minister weighed into the NABUCCO West Vs TAP debate, saying the former was the best option for delivering Shah Deniz gas to Europe.

• EGF Editorial  |  Published on EGF: 06.08.2012  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #29
07/30/2012
Even though Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych expressed concern over the launch of criminal cases against some media outlets and issued an order to check the legality of actions, the Kiev prosecutor's office is continuing to investigate a criminal case against staff members of the Lb.ua news and analysis website. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 03.08.2012  |  External Relations
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Introduction
Debates about the geopolitical, geo-economic and strategic significance of the wider-Black Sea (WBS) region have become fashionable amongst Western policy makers and the international scholarly community since the end of the Cold War. While the Black Sea represented a “front line” in the stand-off between rival superpower blocks during an age which now seems to have slipped into the bygone days of our youth, the major geopolitical realignments which have taken place in Eurasia during the last two decades have evidently led to our “re-discovery” of one of the world’s most historically significant geostrategic playing fields. READ MORE

• Marat Terterov and George Niculescu  |  Published on EGF: 31.07.2012  |  External Relations
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• Dr. Oktay Tanrisever  |  Published on EGF: 27.07.2012  |  External Relations
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ISSUE #28
07/23/2012
Despite multiple statements of a prosecutor's office in the mass media that there is no criminal prosecution of the Lb.ua news and analysis website, we learned on 18 July that a criminal case was launched against the website's employees. READ MORE

• Gorshenin Weekly  |  Published on EGF: 27.07.2012  |  External Relations
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