On December 7, the Trialogue Club held a meeting at the Marriott Aurora hotel. At the business breakfast, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of an influential Russian daily Kommersant Azer Mursaliev spoke on the topic of “Gas and Oil Pipelines Security and Control: Policy of the Russian Federation”.

In his speech, Azer Mursaliev touched upon the challenges and prospects for development of gas and oil pipelines in Eurasia. The expert considered the conflict between Russia and GUAM countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) in developing new pipeline routes in Europe. This conflict is fueled by Gazprom activities in constructing North European Gas Pipeline through the Baltic Sea to Germany and extension of the Blue Current pipeline through Turkey to the Balkans and Italy.

Assessing the nature of this conflict, Azer Mursaliev noted that since Europe is interested in Russian fuel, and Russia is interested in the European market, conflicts in this region “might seem big and scandalous, but they are not deadly and there is always a potential for a compromise there”. At the same time “on the South and the East, Russia is embroiled in a serious game with unpredictable results”, - the expert believes. The main actors in this area are China, Iran as well as Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

“Almost all the activities of SCO countries and countries close to the organization in the last year were aimed at gaining control over the large part of world energy supply and preparing to replace US dollars as the world reserve currency… Combined powers of SCO countries, both in military and economic area, allow them to open an independent stock exchange and trade oil and gas not in US dollars, but in any other currency, including Russian Rubles”, - the expert noted.

Considering the situation in Iran, Azer Mursaliev underlined that issues with Iranian nuclear program concerns not the problem of Iran’s nuclear development but a problem of Iranian oil. Thus, in the future, according to the expert, ‘the main events will happen in the US –SCO- Iran triangle”.

Members of Trialogue Club can find a transcript of Azer Mursaliev’s speech at the PIR Center website: http://www.pircenter.org/eng/club/steno.html

For information on how to join the Trialogue Club please contact Nadezhda Medvedeva.
Tel.: (495) 234-0525, (495) 764-9896,
Fax: (495) 234-9558
E-mail: info@trialogue.ru

PIR Center plans to publish articles on the issues of energy security in “Yaderny Kontrol” journal, which in 2006 extends its coverage to the broader topics of international security. Issues of energy and pipeline security will be also discussed at the PIR center international conference "G8 Global Security Agenda: Challenges & Interests. Towards the St.-Petersburg Summit", held in Moscow on April 20-22, 2006.

More information about the Conference can be found here: http://www.pircenter.org/g8conference/eng/