INTERNAL MARKET FIRST. (Prima il mercato interno)

Gazprom said on Saturday it could not pump additional gas to Western Europe amid a cold snap, after EU officials and energy firms said the Russian giant's deliveries had dropped in several states.

"Gazprom at the moment cannot satisfy the additional volumes that our Western European partners are requesting," the company's deputy chairman Alexander Kruglov said at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, according to Russian news agencies.

Putin told Gazprom at the meeting that the demands of Europe had to be respected but the firm's priority was to supply consumers in Russia, which is also enduring a spell of very cold weather.

"I ask you to make efforts to meet the demands of our foreign partners, bearing in mind that the prime task of Russian energy firms and Gazprom in particular is to satisfy the internal demand in Russia," said Putin.

"This is the priority task."

Kruglov said that Gazprom was carrying out deliveries in line with its agreements with European states but that it was unable to pump additional gas that had been requested.

He said there had been a reduction of 10 percent in gas volumes delivered on previous days but that now deliveries had returned to their normal levels.

The European Commission said Friday that Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia had each registered drops in gas supplies.

But a spokeswoman for EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger, Marlene Holzer, had said that Gazprom contractual small print with European buyers "allows for a certain flexibility."

German energy giant RWE said it was currently receiving 30 percent less gas from Russia than is foreseen in contracts.

"Supply for clients is however assured, notably due to well filled stocks," a spokesman said, adding there would be no problem in the days to come.

Its main rival E.ON, which obtains 27 percent of its gas annually from Gazprom, said it was "well-armed against reductions in supply from Gazprom", even if demand was high for a long period, due to high stock levels.

Russian gas amounted to 33 percent of Germany's supplies in 2010, its main source of gas imports ahead of Norway with 29 percent.

The economy ministry of the Netherlands meanwhile said the country produced sufficient gas itself and had sufficient reserves "to face all the needs".

"We have other possibilities of supply," said spokeswoman Esther Benschop, saying the country had "great flexibility" in gas.

Austria on Friday had logged a 30 percent fall in Russian deliveries and Italy had seen deliveries fall by 24 percent. Deliveries to Italy's gas network Snam Rete Gas were down 28.9 percent on Friday.
(JakartaGlobe)

KAZAKH OIL WORKERS PROTEST.(Gli operai del settore petrolifero kazako protestano)

Holding signs with the slogan, “Don’t Shoot the People,” hundreds of oil workers in the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan protested today against a recent police crackdown on striking workers, the New York Times reported. Clashes with police on Dec. 16 and Dec. 17 caused the deaths of at least 14 striking workers and wounded dozens more.

Thousands of oilmen had been on strike in the Mangistau region since May, demanding wage increases, Reuters reported. On Friday in the city of Zhanaozen, police fired on protesters in the central square, killing at least 13, the New York Times reported.

According to the New York Times:

The workers in Zhanaozen appear to have grown angry when officials began installing holiday decorations for a government-sponsored children’s party, which they felt was a ruse to remove them from the square, witnesses said. Officials said the police were forced to open fire after they came under attack by “hooligans,” some armed with stones and gasoline bombs.

Interior Minister Kalmukhambet Kasymov said the police had no choice but to fire their weapons, The Associated Press reported. “Nobody specifically gave the order to open fire in that situation,” he told the AP. “Every police officer took the decision themselves. When they take a weapon off you, there is no need for an order to be issued.”

After the clash in the square, Kasymov said, the crowd raged throughout the city, setting fire to the mayor’s office, a hotel, the UzenMunaiGas oil company headquarters and the local branch of the governing Nur Otan party.

On Saturday, one person was killed when police fired on several hundred protesters who blocked railroad tracks in the nearby city of Shetpe, the New York Times reported.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe chairperson-in-office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, expressed dismay at the way the situation was handled, the AP reported. “Any action to control crowds by law enforcement should be proportionate and in line with international human rights standards,” he said in a statement.
On Dec. 17, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared a three-week state of emergency for Zhanaozen, the AP reported.
(GlobalPost)

Qui il link al sito dei manifestanti Campaign Kazakhstan.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE = 1-0

Entrerà in funzione oggi, martedì 8 novembre, North Stream, la pipeline che porterà il gas russo in Germania attraverso il Baltico. Dmitrij Medvedev e Angela Merkel hanno “accolto” quel gas in Germania, a Lubmin, girando il rubinetto che gli ha aperto la rete europea. Alla cerimonia hanno preso parte anche il primo ministro francese, François Fillon, il collega olandese Mark Rutte e il commissario europeo all’Energia, Gunther Oettinger: Francia e Olanda sono gli altri due Paesi che aderiscono al consorzio, diviso tra Gazprom, le tedesche Wintershall e E.On Ruhrgas, l’olandese Gasunie e la francese Gdf Suez.

“I consumatori europei potranno avere fino a 55 miliardi di metri cubi di gas dalla Russia nei prossimi anni con il lancio della seconda condotta del North Stream – ha affermato Medvedev in una conferenza stampa congiunta con la Merkel a Berlino – il gas naturale russo e l’elettricità prodotta con essa garantiranno una fornitura energetica stabile ai consumatori del continente e aumenteranno la loro sicurezza energetica”. Il primo tratto pomperà 27,5 miliardi di metri di cubi di gas all’anno, circa la metà di quella che sarà la capacità definitiva della struttura. North Stream parte da Vyborg, nei pressi di San Pietroburgo, e termina a Lubmin, in Germania.

North Stream è lungo 1.224 chilometri e ha ora una capacità di trasporto di 27,5 miliardi di metri cubi all’anno, che diventeranno 55 con la costruzione di una seconda linea, attesa per l’autunno 2012. Il monopolio russo Gazprom ha già siglato contratti di fornitura a lungo termine con diversi Paesi europei, inclusa la Germania, la Danimarca, il Belgio, l’Olanda, la Francia e la Gran Bretagna. In attesa che South Stream colleghi invece la Russia all’Europa meridionale, sempre con l’obiettivo di ridurre i volumi del gas russo – finora l’80% – esportato in Europa attraverso l’Ucraina.
(East Journal)

TYMOSHENKO, THE BIG BLUFF. (Tymoshenko, il grande bluff)

Far fuori gli avversari politici mettendoli dietro le sbarre non è certo il metodo migliore per gestire il potere ottenuto in maniera democratica. Eppure è quello che sta succedendo in Ucraina con il caso di Yulia Tymoshenko, ex primo ministro e leader dell’opposizione che è stata condannata a sette anni di galera per abuso di potere.

Al presidente Victor Yanukovich la dura sentenza serve anche per ottenere una piattaforma giuridica per tentare di ottenere la revisione dei contratti del 2009, obiettivamente svantaggiosi per il paese. Si spiega in questa maniera la reazione russa, con il Cremlino che sia durante il procedimento sia alla sua conclusione si è schierato a favore dell’imputata, sottolineando la validità degli accordi raggiunti tra l’eroina della rivoluzione arancione e Vladimir Putin due anni fa.
I rapporti tra Kiev e Mosca sono sempre passati attraverso le pipelines: è l’oro blu a unire o dividere, a seconda dei momenti. E i protagonisti di queste storie sono sempre gli stessi. In Ucraina Yulia Tymoshenko, ex principessa del gas che con il suo gruppo ha gestito per anni il traffico con la Russia e che prima è passata al ministero dell’Energia poi alla seggiola di premier; Dmitri Firtash, oligarca impegnato nell’energia e non solo, nemico giurato della bionda pasionaria; Yuri Boiko, attuale ministro dell’Energia, ex ceo a Naftogaz e uno dei suggeritori di Yanukovich, da anni schierato con l’ala conservatrice uscita dal blocco dell’ex presidente Leonid Kuchma cui appartengono gli altri magnati dell’industria ucraina, guidati da Rinat Akhmetov.

In Russia chi controlla Gazprom, cioè il Cremlino, è il vero gestore delle relazioni che toccano economia e politica: Putin impera. E se l’ormai scomparso Victor Chernomyrdin dopo essere stato per anni il numero uno di Gazprom era stato mandato a fare l’ambasciatore in Ucraina lo scorso decennio il motivo era chiaro. Politica e gas: gli intrecci al Cremlino sono come quelli alla Bankova e interpretarli non è sempre cosa semplice: ma è chiaro che il processo Tymoshenko si inserisce nel canovaccio dei duelli per il potere.
L’Europa in questa contesa fa da spettatrice: non ha danari per intraprendere un progetto consistente per la ristrutturazione del gas ucraino e rischia di lasciare via libera alla Russia che, avviato Nordstream, ha ora Southstream in progetto. Il sistema di trasporto ucraino va modernizzato e Gazprom vuole metterci sopra le mani, sul modello bielorusso (lo stesso dicasi per Naftogaz). Bruxelles si allarma per la Tymoshenko, ma non può permettersi di abbandonare i negoziati sull’accordo di associazione che dovrebbe essere firmato entro l’anno con Kiev.
L’errore europeo è stato quello di non capire che la rivoluzione del 2004 era un bluff. Gli ucraini l’anno capito da tempo, basta andare a guardarsi i sondaggi sul gradimento della Lady di ferro, peggiori di quelli di Yanukovich. Ora rischia di essere troppo tardi.
(Limes)

RUSSIA AND THE KOREAN - GAS - UNITY. (La Russia e l'unità coreana ... del gas)

South Korean and Russian press are reporting on talks between officials from Russia and South and North Korea on construction of a gas pipeline along the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, just back from a visit to Moscow, said on August 12 that Gazprom and the Russian Foreign Ministry are in contact with North Korean officials about the possibility of building a pipeline from Russia to South Korea via North Korea.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been quoted as saying North Korea was "positive" about the idea.

Gazprom and South Korean company KOGAS signed an agreement for Russian gas in 2008, but
that deal envisioned Russia shipping liquefied natural gas from Sakhalin Island.
(Rferl)
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North Korea says it has received a message from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev seeking cooperation on the construction of a gas pipeline from Russia, through North Korea to South Korea.

Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency said Monday the message also proposed connecting railways and power lines across the three countries. It said the message was delivered to mark the anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule on the Korean peninsula.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted last week saying North Korean officials had responded favorably during initial discussions about the pipeline project. South Korea has contracted to purchase huge amounts of natural gas from Russia later in this decade, and a pipeline through North Korea would substantially reduce delivery costs.

For North Korea, the deal presents an opportunity to acquire vital hard currency by charging transit fees. However South Korea has been reluctant to enter into similar deals in the past because of its often hostile relationship with Pyongyang. Any such system could be disrupted during a future dispute.

KCNA quoted Mr. Medvedev’s message saying Russia is willing to boost cooperation with North Korea “in all directions of mutual concern.” The message said these included a “three-party plan” in the fields of gasification, energy and railway construction.

There have already been preliminary discussions of a rail line that would run from South Korea and connect to the trans-Siberian railroad, making it possible to travel by train from Seoul to Europe.

(Voice of America)