♠ Posted by Emmanuel in
Energy,
Europe
at 5/17/2007 12:59:00 AM
I am kind of incredulous that they're suggesting this, but
MarketWatch thinks good ol' Vladimir Putin might head one of the oil companies whose fortunes he's done so much to enhance through means both fair and foul in recent years. Then again, if Paul Wolfowitz can head the World Bank, then this story shouldn't be so far-fetched. On the plus side,
Parade magazine ranks Putin as "only" the
twentieth worst dictator in the world. If you ask me, there's no other guy who's had a bigger influence in the millennial energy game. (Dig the photo of "Vlad" going for a walk with Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills during their happier days. Why I included I don't know...) Anyway, to the intriguing
article:
"The position of CEO in a multinational oil and gas corporation with a big Russian state's stake is what Putin wants," said Konstantin Simonov, general director of the National Energy Security Fund in Russia and an expert on Russian political and business elites. He was speaking at a conference on energy security in London's Chatham House on Tuesday.
"The elections are next spring. He may be a bit tired [and] he needs to create a spot for himself that he can take after resigning in 2008 and that can be a promotion for him compared to the Russian president status," said Simonov. "He's currently building his retirement spot at the head of a global player in the world's energy market," he added.
As the world's largest gas producer, OAO Gazprom may well be an ideal destination. Putin has backed Gazprom's efforts to extract maximum possible terms from its European customers as well as from such former satellites as Ukraine and Belarus. Putin has also worked to see off potential rivals, masterminding the Kremlin's dismemberment of Michael Khordokovsky's rival oil company Yukos, whose assets now belong to Rosneft and Gazprom.
Finally, Putin has managed to gradually squeeze Western companies out of Russian investments, alleging breach of environmental regulations, as when he backed a decision to force Royal Dutch Shell to sell control of its Sakhalin energy project to Gazprom.
I am kind of incredulous that they're suggesting this, but MarketWatch thinks good ol' Vladimir Putin might head one of the oil companies whose fortunes he's done so much to enhance through means both fair and foul in recent years. Then again, if Paul Wolfowitz can head the World Bank, then this story shouldn't be so far-fetched. On the plus side, Parade magazine ranks Putin as "only" the twentieth worst dictator in the world. If you ask me, there's no other guy who's had a bigger influence in the millennial energy game. (Dig the photo of "Vlad" going for a walk with Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills during their happier days. Why I included I don't know...) Anyway, to the intriguing article: