I am trying to remember. Didn't Russia nationalize Gazprom.
When will governments learn that they can't run businesses efficiently or productively.
AZERBAIJAN KEEPS SOLIDARITY WITH GEORGIA DESPITE RUSSIAN ENERGY SUPPLY CUTS
Jamestown.org ^ | 12/8/06 | Vladimir Socor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1751125/posts
On Wednesday, December 6, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupryanov confirmed recent press reports that Gazprom will abruptly slash gas supplies to Azerbaijan to 1.5 billion cubic meters in 2007, down from 4.5 billion cubic meters in 2006, and that it would raise the price as of January 1, 2007, to between $200 and $230 (European price) per 1,000 cubic meters, up from $110 in 2006 (Interfax, December 6). These Gazprom decisions are correlated with its declared intention to stop gas supplies to Georgia as of January 1, unless Georgia agrees to pay the extortionate $230 price.
Gazprom hardly bothers to adduce economic rationales for that price, which is in fact political and punitive: It practically equalizes Azerbaijan with Georgia at $230, while their neighbor, Moscow-allied Armenia, continues paying $110 per 1,000 cubic meters. However, Gazprom explains the reduction in its deliveries by citing Azerbaijans potential to increase its internal output of gas.
Moscow has two unstated reasons for cutting the supply to Azerbaijan: first, to prevent it from supplying gas to Georgia, if Gazprom cuts off Georgia completely as planned and, second, to shift some Russian export volumes to European Union markets, where Gazprom can no longer be certain of meeting its growing supply commitments from the stagnant extraction levels in Russia.
Further complicating Azerbaijans situation, Russias Unified Energy Systems (UES) announced in late November that it would deeply cut electricity supplies to Azerbaijan, from the equivalent of 300 megawatts per day in 2006 to a daily equivalent of 60 megawatts after January 1, 2007, as well as raising the price of that electricity by 13%. As in Gazproms case (and partly due to Gazproms deficiencies), UES faces difficulties in supplying domestic and foreign customers at the same time, given stagnant gas supplies to UES electricity-generating plants. However, UES has hit Azerbaijan selectively, even as the company seeks to increase its electricity exports in other directions.
(snip)