Putin return will not rock Russian energy policy

Vladimir Putin’s inevitable return to the top of Russian politics will not alter the country’s energy policy, deputy energy minister Anatoly Yanovsky told yesterday’s International Energy Agency (IEA) ministerial meeting

PRIME Minister Putin will stand for the presidency in next year’s elections – a poll he is widely expected to win. Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, is expected to become prime minister, a role he occupied during the last Putin presidency. Energy policy was controversial under Putin’s presidency. He oversaw a turbulent period which included the Yukos bankruptcy – and sale of its assets to state-controlled Rosneft and Gazprom – as well as the first gas war with Ukraine, which brought huge disruption to European gas supply during a harsh winter. “Advocacy of any policy, including energy policy, should manifest itself in the stable rules of the game, which should be realised and understood b