Now if he denationalized all of his gas and oil infrastructure, I might think he was worth listening to. But he doesn’t want to do that, never mind give up political power.
Russia has considerable Western investment and cooperation in its energy market.
The country has a healthy budget surplus and is investing for the future on things that are necessary.
Of course with Putin’s upcoming visit to Germany, naturally there are more opportunities for mutual trade and Germany is already the largest partner in the North Stream Gas Pipeline delivering Russian gas to consumers in Germany.
If Europe moved from austerity to pro-growth policies, it would have a brighter future.
>>Now if he denationalized all of his gas and oil infrastructure, I might think he was worth listening to. But he doesn’t want to do that, never mind give up political power.<<
Last time I’ve check all major Russian energy companies are stock companies. Buy it if you want.
Nationalized oil and gas puts them in the company of nearly every other nation on earth. The USA is a rarity in that individuals can own mineral rights to oil and gas on their land.
Even in England, all oil, gas, coal, gold, etc belong to the crown. Nobody may extract without a government grant. The right to mine does not exist.
Most complaining about Russian oil and gas policy is actually the EU stamping their feet, that they were unable to solidify control of it, and use it they way Europe has always used colonial regions.
The EU is very bitter that they must simply be a customer of a foreign exporter. It was more fun to fantasize about owning it all.
To paraphrase Lev Bronstein, you may not be interested in Putin - but Putin is interested in you.
I think that, as the EU collapses, two possibilities emerge - one, the failed EU states come together under German suzerainty, or two, the Germans and the Russians come together in some sort of condominium.