Latest news with #Gazprom
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Russia's Gazprom puts offices near Moscow up for sale for $129 million
MOSCOW, May 27 (Reuters) - Russian energy giant Gazprom ( opens new tab said on Tuesday it had put a business centre near Moscow that housed its offices up for sale for a starting price of 10.34 billion roubles ($129 million). Gazprom embarked on the sale of a number of real estate assets last year after posting a 2023 loss of almost $7 billion as gas exports to Europe collapsed, and after having completed the move of its headquarters to St. Petersburg in 2021. The company said it is aiming to sell the Business centre, which includes 31 real estate assets and hosted Gazprom's gas retail business, which sells gas to Moscow city, the Moscow region and other domestic markets. ($1 = 80.1000 roubles)
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Turkish foreign minister seeks Putin's support on nuclear plant, Gazprom
ANKARA, May 27 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday he discussed overcoming outstanding issues related to the Akkuyu nuclear power plant being built by Rosatom in southern Turkey during his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Fidan added that he had requested Putin's support for ongoing negotiations between Russia's Gazprom and Turkish pipeline operator Botas, in a veiled reference to Turkey's gas payments to Russia.
Russia Today
3 days ago
- Business
- Russia Today
German bank restricts ex-chancellor's account over sanctions fears
A German bank has imposed restrictions on an account belonging to former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder due to concerns that some payments could be linked to Russia, Bild reported on Sunday. The reported freeze came despite Schroeder not being listed under any sanctions. Sparkasse Hannover, the longtime local bank of the ex-German leader, has frozen incoming transfers linked to his business ties with Russia, according to the article. The restrictions reportedly apply to nearly half a million euros annually that Schroeder is said to receive from his position on the board of Nord Stream 2, a pipeline project owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom. The pipeline, which was intended to deliver Russian gas directly to Germany, was completed in 2021 but never entered service due to EU sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. In 2022, it was severely damaged in a sabotage Moscow believes was orchestrated by Western intelligence services. In a letter to Schroeder, Sparkasse Hannover reportedly cited fears of violating international financial restrictions, particularly those imposed by the US on Russian energy entities. The funds were allegedly routed via a Gazprombank account in Luxembourg but have been returned since Sparkasse's internal review raised concerns about potential exposure to secondary US bank declined to discuss individual accounts When asked for comment by Bild. Despite the freeze, Schroeder remains unsanctioned by the EU, UK, or US. However, according to Bild, the bank's move to halt certain transfers came shortly after Hanover Mayor Belit Onay, a member of the Green Party and a public critic of Schroeder, took over as chairman of the Sparkasse board. Onay had previously advocated for stripping Schroeder of his honorary citizenship, calling his continued business ties with Russia incompatible with the city's values. Schroeder served as German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, forging close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his tenure. After leaving office, he took on senior roles in several Russian energy companies. After the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, Schroeder faced growing political pressure due to his perceived ties with Russia. In 2022, the German parliament stripped him of his government-funded office, and attempts were made within his own SPD party to expel him – though ultimately unsuccessful. Schroeder has blasted Western policymakers over underestimating the dangers of the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, while warning it should respect Russia's historical security interests. According to Bild, the ex-chancellor still views Nord Stream as a positive for Germany, citing the need for cheap and sustainable energy supplies.
Russia Today
4 days ago
- Business
- Russia Today
EU nation blames Ukraine for energy crisis
Ukraine has put energy security in Europe at risk by suspending pipeline gas transit through its territory, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said. He added that Budapest has managed to secure supplies thanks to Serbia. Kiev refused to extend a five-year transit contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom at the end of 2024, effectively cutting off EU member states, including Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, and Moldova, from the flow of natural gas. 'Ukraine has abandoned Central Europe in terms of energy supply security after shutting down the natural gas pipeline that used to transport gas from Russia, from the east, to Europe – primarily to Central Europe,' Szijjarto said in a video shared on Facebook on Saturday, stressing that the move has placed the region in a difficult position. The foreign minister went on to say that Serbia is now providing transit shipments to ensure sufficient energy supply to the region, adding that Hungary currently receives over 20 million cubic meters of gas daily through the neighboring country. After Ukraine opted to not prolong the gas transit deal with Gazprom, the TurkStream pipeline – which runs through Türkiye and the Balkans – became the only route supplying Russian gas to the region. Russia, once the EU's main gas supplier, dramatically reduced exports to the bloc three years ago following Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. The country's share of EU pipeline gas imports dropped from over 40% in 2021 to around 11% in 2024. Earlier this month, the European Commission announced plans to completely eliminate reliance on Russian energy by the end of 2027. The bloc's executive branch said it would propose legislation requiring all member states to draft 'national plans' to phase out imports of Russian gas, nuclear fuel, and oil as early as this month. Szijjarto criticized the proposal as 'absolute insanity,' warning that, if adopted, it would trigger energy price hikes across the region and seriously harm the sovereignty of EU member states. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pledged to block the initiative. Commenting further on Ukraine's role in undermining Europe's energy security, Szijjarto added that Budapest and Belgrade have agreed to build a 200-kilometer oil pipeline connecting the two countries by 2027. He added that the project will help Hungary avoid a rise in gasoline prices.
Irish Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Nord Stream saga shows German leaders' magical thinking and economical approach to the truth
Gerhard Schröder looked every bit the elder statesman, and in no way a political pariah, when he appeared this week in Lower Saxony's state parliament in Hanover . The 81-year-old ex-chancellor, lawyer and Russian energy lobbyist has been suffering from burnout, according to his doctor. But Tuesday's election of a new Lower Saxon state premier – a role Schröder filled for eight years until his election as chancellor in 1998 – was a special occasion worth rallying for. 'I'm still here,' joked a grinning Schröder. Where Schröder still isn't is at a parliamentary inquiry into the Nord Stream gas pipelines. READ MORE One of Schröder's final acts as chancellor was to green light Nord Stream 1, two 1,200km-long pipelines carrying Russian natural gas under the Baltic Sea. After leaving office Schröder, a close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin , joined one of the pipeline consortium's supervisory boards. Since then the Hanover-based lawyer has doubled as a lobbyist for Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. Though he has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine , he has held back in his criticism of Putin and, as a result, many people actively avoid him. Not so in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the pipelines made land in Germany A state parliamentary committee extended an invitation to Schröder to explain his version of the Nord Stream drama. Its last act to date was a series of unexplained explosions in September 2022 that damaged three of the four undersea pipelines. Rather than answer questions in person, Schröder said in a letter leaked this week that he was too ill to attend the inquiry – at least until the end of the year. Instead of personal testimony he sent the parliamentary investigation a four-page written overview of why he 'was and remains positive' towards the gas pipelines. 'During my time as chancellor it was always clear to me that Germany is an industrial country lacking raw materials, whose prosperity can only be increased and maintained if it is, and remains, competitive on global markets,' he wrote. 'This was always rational and of benefit for Germany and these decisions did not become wrong through the terrible war in Ukraine.' The ex-chancellor signed off his letter by wishing the committee 'lots of success with its research into, and the free and fair assessment of, the historical truth'. While the inquiry has no powers to compel him to attend, several media investigations have exposed the magical thinking – and economical approach to the truth – that characterised many German political leaders' approach to Nord Stream. Government files released to the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily, for instance, show just how deeply Angela Merkel was involved in the geopolitics of – and EU lobbying for – the second, Nord Stream 2, project. This despite her mantrathat the pipeline – majority controlled by Gazprom with involvement of energy companies Shell, Eon and others – was a private, commercial endeavour. Files show how Merkel chancellery officials worked steadily and silently to smooth Nord Stream 2's political path, against considerable political opposition from the European Commission and Germany's eastern neighbours. Throughout the Nord Stream files, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports, are handwritten remarks and questions by Merkel in green chancellor ink. The chancellery's interest in pursuing the project remained considerable and consistent even after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in March 2014. In July 2015, as Nord Stream 2 began to take shape, officials told Merkel the project 'is to be welcomed, from both a German and Europe perspective'. 'From a position of energy policy, Germany cannot afford to take a position against Nord Stream [2],' the officials wrote. Merkel was informed of – and apparently backed – efforts by German officials in Brussels to prevent greater involvement of the European Commission. The commission took a critical stance on the bilateral project after taking on board concerns of Poland and Ukraine. In particular they argued that all such pipelines gave Moscow even greater leverage to meets its western European energy contractual requirements while opening potential to use energy as a weapon by throttling deliveries in the east. Chancellery officials warned Merkel that it was crucial to quell growing dissent, but that being too obvious about it 'could be interpreted as intervention for Nord Stream' – with the real risk of political blowback for Merkel and her claim not to be involved. In a handwritten note from January 25th, 2018, she asked officials to 'put together the requested material' on finding allies to work together on tackling the commission. Rather than openly oppose the commission, chancellery officials decided on a strategy of 'critical questioning ... to avoid possible political damage from an early, public rejection'. Merkel was also involved in granting the state guarantee sought by the Nord Stream 2 consortium in 2018. Rather than appear to be handing Putin a multibillion gift in advance of talks, she backed a plan to postpone political assessment of the guarantee application until after their meeting. [ As NordStream operator fights legal action in Europe, speculation of US-Russian pipeline partnership grows Opens in new window ] Asked how her hands-on Nord Stream approach, indicated by the traces of green ink in the files, tallies with her hands-off narrative, Merkel's office replied that 'the files ... are in the chancellery, please direct your questions to the chancellery'.
