Contents tagged with Gazprom

  • U.S. Senate approves new sanctions against Nord Stream 2 pipeline

    The U.S. Senate has approved the draft National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021, which includes new sanctions against the Nord Stream-2 pipeline.

    The document, which was approved by the House of Representatives earlier this week, received 86 votes in favor and only 14 against.

    The $740.5 billion Defense Budget contains a provision for tightening sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 project, which has been under sanctions since December last year, effectively halting its …

  • Lukashenko: $640 million laundered through Gazprom Bank in Belarus

    The Russian authorities understand the reasons for the situation with the Belgazprombank case and the arrest of its former head Viktor Babariko, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with the government in the Minsk region.

    "On June 24 (during my visit to Moscow), I noticed that when we ctracked down on this gas industry bank, they understood everything," said Lukashenko, whose speech was broadcast by the Belarus-1 TV channel.

    According to Lukashenko, the Belarusian …

  • U.S. Congress introduces draft bill with new sanctions against Nord Stream 2

    Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bill on additional sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The document entitled "Protecting Europe's Energy Security Clarification Act of 2020" accompanies a similar bill prepared in early June in the U.S. Senate.

    Nine congressmen, six Republicans and three Democrats - have drafted and supported the new project. The introduction of a parallel bill usually means that senators and members of the House of Representatives who …

  • Lukashenko orders Belarusian companies to close accounts in Russian banks

    The Belarusian authorities ordered state-owned companies to stop using bank accounts and withdraw money from all Russian banks except state-owned ones, reported Belarusian news outlets Naviny.by and TUT.by, citing sources in financial industry.

    The order of the Belarusian government concerns the banks with Russian capital, one of the bankers said. This includes the subsidiaries of Sberbank and VEB (BPS-Sberbank and BelVEB), which have traditionally been actively working with Belarusian state- …

  • Belarus accuses Russian high-ranking officials of fraud

    Gazprom's top managers, as well as possibly high-ranking representatives of the Russian establishment, are involved in illegal activities in Belgazprombank, stated the head of the Committee of State Control (KGC) of Belarus Ivan Tertel.

    On June 14, several top managers of the bank, which is 99.6% owned by Gazprom and Gazprombank, were detained on charges of tax evasion, credit fraud and creating a criminal group to withdraw funds abroad.

    On Thursday, June 18, the Belarusian security forces …

  • Gazprom classifies gas supplies to DPR and LPR

    Gazprom has stopped disclosing the volume of gas supplies to the the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

    At the end of the first quarter, the company’s reported zero gas supplies to Ukraine, which, for more than 5 years, has been used to reflect supplies to LPR and DPR.

    Gazprom's previous position was that the republics are part of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian national gas corporation Naftogaz should pay for these supplies. Moscow officially called 12 billion cubic meters …

  • Lukashenko sends 16 top managers of Gazprom bank to prison

    President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko continues to raise stakes in the conflict with Moscow.

    After inconclusive negotiations on gas prices held last week, the Committee of State Control (KGC) of Belarus carried out searches at the head office of Belgazprombank, the former head of which, Viktor Babariko, decided to run for president in the upcoming August 9 elections.

    15 top managers of the bank, which is 99.6% owned by the Russian gas giant Gazprom and Gazprombank, are suspected of …

  • Gas talks between Russia and Belarus produce no results

    Energy Ministers of Belarus and Russia, Viktor Karankevich and Alexander Novak, resumed attempts to come to an agreement on gas prices, with Minsk demanding a considerable discount. Negotiations held on June 9 over vodeo conference, which involved the deputy chief of staff of Gazprom Alexander Meshkov, Ambassador to Minsk Vladimir Semashko, ended without any results.

    The press service of the Russian Ministry of Energy did not report any concrete results of the conversation, while Minsk …

  • Poland hikes tariff on Russian gas transit for 2021

    The Energy Regulatory Office of Poland has approved a tariff for gas transit through the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline.

    "The new tariff for 2021 assumes an increase in average payments for gas transportation services by 16.5% in relation to the current tariff," the statement reads.

    The owner of the Polish section of Yamal-Europe pipeline, EuRoPol Gaz,which is a joint venture between Gazprom and the Polish concern PGNiG, will be affected by the increase in the price of the gas …

  • Poland threatens Gazprom with $50 million fine for failure to cooperate in Nord Stream 2 case

    The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Administration (Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów, UOKiK) has opened a case against Gazprom because of the company's refusal to cooperate in the ongoing antitrust investigation.

    "The rules are clear and the same for everyone, but Gazprom has repeatedly refused to hand over documents related to our investigation. The Russian gas giant cannot stand above the law, so I have opened a criminal case against Gazprom which will result in a fine for …