[Marxism] Gazprom clashes with USA over Bolivia investment

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Observer, Sunday June 25, 2006
Gazprom set for US showdown over Bolivia deal
Conal Walsh

Gazprom has expressed an interest in investing up to $3bn (£1.7bn) in 
Bolivia, putting the Russian gas monopoly on a collision course with 
Washington. The deal would be Gazprom's first investment in the American 
hemisphere, and is likely to fuel concerns about the Kremlin-controlled 
firm's global ambitions ahead of next month's G8 summit in St Petersburg.

Gazprom has made a number of international acquisitions, including the 
purchase last week of Pennine Natural Gas in the UK. It has also been 
linked to Centrica, Britain's biggest gas distributor.

But the company, which supplies a quarter of Europe's gas, has aroused 
concern because of its aggressive diplomacy. US vice-president Dick Cheney 
recently accused Russia of using energy as a tool of 'intimidation and 
blackmail'.

Washington may be alarmed by Gazprom's sudden appearance in the Americas 
and aggrieved that Russia is developing ties with Bolivia. The Latin 
American country, led by socialist president Evo Morales, recently 
renationalised its energy industry, to the detriment of western oil 
companies. But analysts predict Russia will be unapologetic.

Chris Weafer of Alfa Bank in Moscow said the deal was partly a Kremlin 
riposte to attempts by the US to cultivate allies among the former Soviet 
states of the gas-rich Caspian region.

'It has a political as well as an economic rationale,' he said. 


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