Gazrprom’s Eye Fixed on Israel

[Tellurian]

When energy giant Gazprom wants something, it stops at nothing. That’s how it was when it turned off the gas supply to Ukraine last winter, threatened the European Union and arranged a job for the German Chancellor. Now it wants to come here. Prime Minister Olmert is already being supportive, his good friend is about to make a profit, the outgoing Director General of the Ministry of Defense is lending a hand and Netanyahu’s attorney is providing the legal support. Strategic reservations about dependence on Russia?
Gimme a break. The main thing is for it to be warm.

To get an idea of how big Gazprom is, it’s enough to take a brief glance at some dry figures: it is the world’s third largest company, with a value of around $270 billion, with around 300,000 employees at the company and its subsidiaries. Its gas production in 2005 was equal to the entire oil production of Saudi Arabia. In the past, Gazprom was also active in the development of oil fields in Iran, engaging in deals that are estimated at billions of dollars.

Putin makes extensive use of Gazprom for foreign and domestic political purposes as well. He didn’t hesitate to crack the Gazprom whip when disputes over gas and oil prices broke out in various places around the world, and there is no doubt that Gazprom’s status opens many doors for him throughout Europe. In political terms, the Russian government makes use of Gazprom’s extensive business activity in Russia, led its media, banking and agricultural groups. In general, the relationship between the Kremlin and Gazprom is symbiotic: the Chairman of Gazprom is Dimitri Medvedev, former Chief of Staff at the Kremlin, Chief Deputy to the Russian Prime Minister and the man who is considered Putin’s potential successor.

http://www.mosnews.com/commentary/2006/05/17/gazpromisrpipeline.shtml

Putin is expanding his role exponentially into something more than a former KGB agent/Blk Belt certified politico.