Putin has sabotaged Gazprom at every turn over the past 20 years because when it was well-run it was a threat to its power (given that the company literally keeps Russians alive). It used to a company run by engineers (and easily underestimated from the outside) and politics played out once the results were obtained (in the words of an old Gazprom hand "first we generate the money (after meeting our public obligations) then we steal it"). But the price increases from 2000 have left so much income that it no longer became necessary for Gazprom to be well run ("there was so much money to steal that we ould not steal it all").
Destroying the reliability of Gazprom as an exporter is the final nail in the coffin, and China is certainly not a viable alternative for a company built for the past 50 years around its Western-directed backbones.
The first part gave me the impression that Xi was “playing” Putin but the comment from Joe Webster gives the impression that Putin is no fool and is actually playing his domestic audience.
> In August, Novatek surpassed Novatek to become Europe’s largest natural gas supplier
I assume this should read “Novatek surpassed Gazprom”?
am unsure why putin will be unable to confiscate any russian entity (e.g., novatek) generating sustained profits? surely its his boredom with outsized routine kleptocracy that has now found an exponential path to waste resources of the homeland.
Putin has sabotaged Gazprom at every turn over the past 20 years because when it was well-run it was a threat to its power (given that the company literally keeps Russians alive). It used to a company run by engineers (and easily underestimated from the outside) and politics played out once the results were obtained (in the words of an old Gazprom hand "first we generate the money (after meeting our public obligations) then we steal it"). But the price increases from 2000 have left so much income that it no longer became necessary for Gazprom to be well run ("there was so much money to steal that we ould not steal it all").
Destroying the reliability of Gazprom as an exporter is the final nail in the coffin, and China is certainly not a viable alternative for a company built for the past 50 years around its Western-directed backbones.
Thanks Jerome I like this take
Interesting article and great title!
The first part gave me the impression that Xi was “playing” Putin but the comment from Joe Webster gives the impression that Putin is no fool and is actually playing his domestic audience.
> In August, Novatek surpassed Novatek to become Europe’s largest natural gas supplier
I assume this should read “Novatek surpassed Gazprom”?
fixed. thanks for pointing that out!
great details.
am unsure why putin will be unable to confiscate any russian entity (e.g., novatek) generating sustained profits? surely its his boredom with outsized routine kleptocracy that has now found an exponential path to waste resources of the homeland.