Mr Hutton warns that with threats of a new Cold War opening up with Russia - which supplies a large part of the gas Britain is forced to import - securing reliable energy supplies has become vitally important.
Russia supplies only marginal volumes of gas to the UK, if at all, so that sentence is plain false. Most UK imports come from Norway and, in the near future, will come by LNG from places like Qatar (big contracts have been signed).
And the Soviet Union reliably supplied gas to Europe during the real Cold War - indeed, the big pipeline deals were negotiated in the early 80s, at the height of geopolitical tensions between East and West. But hey, here are our politics for the next decade:
"Energy security is fundamental to our existence as an independent, democratic, free state," he says. "I think the events not just in Georgia, but over a longer timescale, have really confirmed the growing importance of energy independence for the UK.
We have a new enemy, yippee! We can build more coal plants and more nukes without oversight. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
you are the media you consume.
commies are super-handy right now, cuz those mean chinese are beating up tibetans, undercutting our work force, poisoning our dogfood and polluting up a storm.
start with the russians though, they're badass enough, and getting uppity.
move in the gunboats, crank up the terra alerts, under the bed with all thinking citizens, (since they have too little disposable denaro to do any more serious shopping any more...) The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. Chinese Proverb.
...Medvedev holds the same neoliberal and meritocratic values as his G8 peers; he is no more of a socialist or even a social democrat. In a telling passage in his inaugural speech, he said he wanted more Russians "to swell the ranks of the middle class and gain access to good education and healthcare". There was no suggestion that single mothers, the elderly, the poor and unskilled workers might also deserve decent services. No word either about stopping the decline of state schools and hospitals and their accelerating marketisation, as parents and patients have to pay for what used to be free while private institutions emerge to cream off the best staff. Everything is subordinated to the rightwing yuppie view that only the middle classes matter, since they (ie people like me) are the motor for growth and democracy.
I think the events not just in Georgia, but over a longer timescale,
Where he says "Over a longer timescale" how long's he talking about? that looks suspiciously like he's calling Britiains involvement in Iraq a complete disaster, albeit indirectly. Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.
Just for kicks, Russia should let Shell or BP have some gas at the Russian border and deal with the Ukrainians themselves. That might be enlightening. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
There is also some fighting over the first deal, as gas prices go up while transit prices don't seem to need to change as much, and Gazprom gets unhappy about the original deal (although note that in 2006, it was Ukraine that chose to re-open the issue despite then benefitting form a 5-year contract frawmework with favorable prices in that respect, ie a guaranteed volume of gas for free for 5 years).
So imagine Shell coming with its gas at the Russian-Ukrainian border. It will be willing to pay market rates for gas transit - to the Ukrainian gas company. But the gas can still be siphoned out by Ukrainians, becuase they can - the question then become, (i) why would they do that (because gas is valuable and they can onsell it), (ii) who can do something about it (the Ukrianian authorities, but could luck with that), and (iii) what can Shell do (they have nothing to offer, unlike the Gazprom managers who can offer to allocate company income for personal gain)?
Like I said, it would quickly put Ukraine in an interesting spot, and Gazprom in an even more interestign one, because they (well, again, its managers) would actually have solutions that would get Shell some money... if not the amounts they's expect. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
In the business period of her life, Tymoshenko involved business relations (either co-operative or hostile) with many important figures of Ukraine, first of all, in Dnipropetrovsk. The list includes Pavlo Lazarenko, Viktor Pinchuk, Ihor Kolomoyskyi, Rinat Akhmetov, and, of course, Leonid Kuchma who at that time was the President. All of them were originating from Dnipropetrovsk. As part of her gas-dealing business, Tymoshenko has also been closely linked to the management of the Russian Gazprom.
Or is the Dnipropetrovsk clan the same as the Gazprom faction?
And what is the deal with RosUkrEnergo? A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
