I was saying
the other day about the “clouds” over the Russian-Italian relations due to the
cancellation of the South Stream pipeline. The Italian giant ENI had 20% of the
South Stream, and the cancellation of the project, together with the agreement
for Nord Stream 2, are expected to adversely affect the Russian-Italian
relations. However the Russians gave 10% of Nord Stream 2 to Shell, the
English-Dutch energy company, and therefore it is expected that the
Anglo-Russian relations will be strengthened.
Moreover, Roseneft,
the Russian state owned giant Rosneft, which is by far Russia ’s
largest producer of oil, gave a 20% stake in the British giant BP. In addition
Centrica, one of the largest British natural gas and electricity suppliers,
which operates under the name British Gas and Scottish Gas, agreed to buy from
Gazprom 4 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year. For relevant articles
see Wall Street Journal “BP and Rosneft Sign Production, Exploration, Refining
Pacts”, June 2015, Gazprom’s site ““Gazprom, BASF, E.ON, ENGIE, OMV and Shell
sign Shareholders Agreement on Nord Stream II project”, September
2015, and Independent “Gas imports from Russia's Gazprom giant to soar after
new Centrica deal”, May 2015.
“BP and
Rosneft Sign Production, Exploration, Refining Pacts”, June 2015
“Gazprom,
BASF, E.ON, ENGIE, OMV and Shell sign Shareholders Agreement on Nord
Stream II project”, September 2015
“Gas
imports from Russia 's
Gazprom giant to soar after new Centrica deal”, May 2015
I must say that
in England and Germany the energy sector is run by the private
sector, and therefore the Russians have to give the shares to private
companies, contrary to what they do in Southern Europe ,
where they give the shares to public companies. But that does not mean that the
English and the German politicians do not care about the routes and supplies of
oil and gas, and about the prices of oil and gas. Besides their geopolitical
importance, the oil and gas prices determine the production cost of their
economies, and therefore the competitiveness of their countries. As you can
read at the following Financial Times article, titled “BP shareholders need protecting
from David Cameron”, April 2015, the British center-right Prime Minister David
Cameron said that the English government would stop the American energy company
Exxon from buying the British BP.
“BP
shareholders need protecting from David Cameron”, April 2015
The Financial
Times are the best British newspaper, probably the best newspaper in the world,
and it is attacking the British government, since the latter does not even have
“golden” shares in BP. Golden shares give governments certain rights. The reason the British do not want Exxon to buy BP is because
BP will become an American company, and will have to comply to the sanctions
imposed by the US government
on Russia .
This is not the only reason of course. I must say that in the US the energy
sector is also run by the private sector. In the advanced countries the energy
sector is run by the private sector.
Moreover
the Russian oligarchs have placed lots of money at the City of London , which is the most advanced European
capital market, and they buy tons of political influence, as you can read at
the following FT, Economist and New York Times articles. Nigel Farage of UKIP
is one of Putin’s great admirers.
“Osborne
warns UK
on financial impact of Russian sanctions”, July 2014
“London ’s Laundry Business”, March 2014.
“Prospect of tough sanctionson Russians hits City realpolitik”,
του Μαρτίου 2014.
“Russia ’s
European supporters. In the Kremlin’s pocket: Who Backs Putin and Why”,
February 2015
The
Qataris, who are Russia ’s
number one competitor in the natural gas markets, have made their own moves in England . The
Qataris have bought all the top properties of London, as you can read at the
following Daily Mail article, titled “How London is being sold off to Qatar”, April
2015, and at the Guardian’s “How much of London is owned by Qatar’s royal family”?,
December 2014.
“How London is being sold off to Qatar ”, April 2015
“How much
of London is owned by Qatar ’s royal family”?, December 2014
At the
following Bloomberg article, titled “Qatari Wealth Fund Says Ready to Boost
Investments in U.K. ”, February
2014, you can read that Qatar
has invested huge amounts at the British bank Barclays, and it also bought the British super market company Sainsbury
and at the Harrods. The article also mentions the Qatari investment in the
Credit Suisse bank.
“Qatari
Wealth Fund Says Ready to Boost Investments in U.K. ”, February 2014
The Qatar
Investment Authority, which is owned by the Emir of Qatar, has also made huge
investments at the German Hochtief, at the French energy giants Total and
Areva, at France Telecom and GDF Suez, and many other European giants. See “Qatar Investment
Authority”.
Of course Qatar has been also selling tons of liquefied natural
gas to England , as you can read
at the following Financial Times article, titled “UK
warned over dependence on Qatar
gas”, January 2012.
“UK warned over dependence on Qatar gas”, January
2012
Therefore there
is an economic war between Russian and Qatar
over England , with Russia having the geographical advantage, and Qatar having the advantage that England ’s major ally, the United States of America , is currently fighting a
cold war with Russia .
The more England cooperates
with Russia ,
the more she hurts her alliance with the Americans. During the last decades the
British have been counting on Europe to sell their products, and they have been
counting on their alliance over the Atlantic Ocean
with the Americans, in order to protect their borders. That’s why the English
political left has been moderate and pro-American.
However all
this transactions with the Russians and the Qataris have deeply affected the
British political system, and the new leader of the Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn,
is a man who claims that NATO should have been dissolved in 1990, and he
compares ISIS with the American soldiers. See
the Telegraph article titled “Jeremy Corbyn 'to apologise over Iraq war' if he becomes leader, as he compares
Isil attacks to America 's
actions”, August 2015.
“Jeremy
Corbyn 'to apologise over Iraq
war' if he becomes leader, as he compares Isil attacks to America 's
actions”, August 2015
Jeremy
Corbyn is a typical European leftist. In the struggle between the Americans and
the Russians in Ukraine
they always support the Russians. But they truly love the Islamists, and surprise
surprise Qatar is one of the
countries which greatly promote Islamism in Europe .
Jeremy Corbyn asks for more Muslim immigrants in Europe and England . These
Muslim immigrants are recruited by Islamist clerics in the mosques which are built
by Qatar , Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, who pay
huge money to promote Islamism in Europe . See“Islamic
State militants 'smuggled to Europe ”, May 2015.
See also “Europe : Mosque Building Shifts into High Gear”
Moreover
the European leftists believes that by bringing many Muslims immigrants in Europe they will become stronger, because these Muslims
always end up voting for the left.
The question
is whether it is possible for an alliance between Russia ,
Germany and England to be
established. What can I say…The British desperately need the cheap Russian gas,
but after WW2 they have based the security of their borders on their alliance
with the US .
Even Jeremy Corbyn admitted that England would be less safe outside
NATO. What is for sure though, is that the British will not make things easy
for the Americans.
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