Under Pressure: Once Mighty Gazprom Loses Its Clout

[sysop]

Energy giant Gazprom is no longer the powerhouse it once was. The company is losing its tight grip on the European market and its rivals are gathering steam. The world's largest producer of natural gas might even lose its export monopoly.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-a-881024.html

[gasblogger]

Germany is also considering fracking, and should. Any environmental considerations are minimal. Coal, and nuclear are worse. Solar and wind cannot work alone, so natural gas base power is better.

Natural gas is the future of energy. It is replacing dirty old coal plants, and dangerous expensive nuclear plants. It will fuel cars, trucks, vans, buses, locomotives, aircraft, ships, tractors, engines of all kinds. It costs far less. It will help keep us out of more useless wars, where we shed our blood and money. It is used to make many products. It lowers CO2 emissions, and pollution. Over 4,500 select natural gas story links on my free blog. An annotated and illustrated bibliography of live links, updated daily. The worldwide picture of natural gas. Read in 67 nations. ronwagnersrants . blogspot . com

[powermeerkat]

It's a government/mafia run entreprise, with KGB gen. Putin reportedly owning (illegally, of course) ca 30% of its stock.

It arbitrarily lowers/increases gas prices to reward those countries which kowtow to Moscow (cf. Germany), and punish those which refuse to do so (cf. Ukraine)

Btw. Most of gas sold to Western Europe isnt' even Russian:

It's TURKMEN, with land-locked Turkenistan forced at gun point to sell it to Russia for less than 1/3rd of the free market price.

[nikshade2011]

And the people in Russia on the former heat fire wood whereas in европе burn down the Russian gas!!

Dividends under actions of large (joint-stock companies) of the companies are paid only on the packages which are in the property of state structures. To physical persons and foreign investors dividends refuse under the pretext of necessity of a direction of profit on development of the companies!!! Thus, the management of Russia and the people of Russia still live in different measurements!!!
The law in Russia not the law and the creative tool in hands of strong, ambitious and proud people which the official or the agent of national security carry a proud rank, and the state treasury on former is a feeding trough for the higher authority though also sometimes not the most part is given to petty officials that state secret did not give out!!!