NOVEMBER 2006

From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 11/30/2006 4:18 AM
Russia takes a golden opportunity

Julia Finch
Thursday November 30, 2006

Guardian
Just two months ago in this column we quoted George Soros's view of Russia as "a country that does not hesitate to use its monopoly power in devious and arbitrary ways". Mr Soros was referring to letting the state-controlled Rosneft list in London, but his view was also a good description of events that had just unfolded at the huge Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project. Just as the state-controlled Gazprom was agitating to buy a 25% stake in the $20bn (£10bn) venture, Shell lost its operating licence on environmental grounds.

Yesterday, as if relations between Russia and the UK were not strained enough, the Russian Natural Resources Ministry was at it again. This time it was Peter Hambro Mining in its sights.

With no notice the Russians threatened to withdraw five of the Aim-listed group's exploration licences, wiping 20% off its value, although the shares regained some composure and ended down 14%. As ...
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From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 11/30/2006 11:37 AM
Putin's power struggle

We cannot let Russia use its domination of energy supplies to bully its neighbours across Europe
David Clark
Wednesday November 29, 2006

Guardian
The murder of Alexander Litvinenko is an irresistible story, but it shouldn't have taken the death of one man to alert us to the fact that we have a serious problem with Putin's Russia. Whether Litvinenko's poisoning was ordered by the Kremlin or not, it has been obvious for some time that we are dealing with a regime whose contempt for democracy and human rights at home is matched by an increasingly aggressive and unilateralist approach to foreign policy.

Offstage from last week's spy drama, a storm was brewing with far more profound long-term implications for our relations with Russia. It was brought to a head by Poland's decision to veto negotiations over a new cooperation agreement between the EU and Russia. Poland's grievances are perfectly valid. Russia is not only violating an agreement on energy by ...
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