The Gazprom nation

Gazprom is actively investing in Western distributors and wants to become a global gas giant under vertical integration, selling gas to everyone and his neighbor. What Gazprom wants is to control the whole chain – from production to the final consumer in Europe. What the EU wants is for Gazprom to bring gas to the EU’s external borders, where the gas will be bought by EU partners who will then distribute it inside Europe. This would mean the end of long-term Gazprom contracts with European energy giants – a no-no for Putin.

Russia is actually in search of a Euro-Asian equilibrium. As Natalia Narotchnitskaia, vice president of the Russian parliament’s Commission of Foreign Affairs, put it, Russia now boasts “energy independence, military power, high level of education, a complete cycle of scientific research, no overpopulation, a huge territory, and a modest level of consumption”. She added, “The only country in the world to meet all these criteria is Russia.”

Asia Times