Russia completely cuts off gas supply via Ukraine

wait isn't europe taking energy from the sahara in the form of solar energy? When the African nations want control of their energy back that'll be an interesting sight.. trust me on that one.

Board of Directors

Gazprom's Board of Directors as of August 2008:[54]

* Viktor Zubkov (Chairman, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia)
* Alexei Miller (Deputy Chairman and CEO)
* Alexander Ananenkov (Deputy Chairman)
* Burckhard Bergmann (Chairman of the Executive Board of E.ON Ruhrgas AG, member of the Executive Board of E.ON AG)
* Boris Fyodorov (Gazprom shareholder)
* Farit Gazizullin
* Elena Karpel (Head of the Department for Pricing and Economic Expert Analysis, member since June 25, 2004)
* Viktor Khristenko (Russian Minister for Industry and Energy)
* Elvira Nabiullina (Russian Minister for Economic Development and Trade)
* Mikhail Sereda
* Igor Yusufov (Special Envoy of the Russian President for International Energy Cooperation and Ambassador at Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Former members of the Board:

* Alexandra Levitskaya (until June 25, 2004)
* Dmitry Medvedev (President of Russia, Chairman 2000-2001 and again 2002-2008)

Alexandre Medvedev, is the C.E.O. of Gazprom
Nash Dom, Gazprom.. Our House, Gas House.

Gazprom is one of the world's largest and most important megacorps (their CEO is Dimitry Medvedev, President of Russia). This may be a move to simply increase their own political power.

From article:
"The current Russian gas crisis highlights just how vulnerable countries relying on gas imports for their energy can be." - Tom Foulkes, director general of UK Institute of Civil Engineers.
That's a warning we should all heed while working on energy alternatives.

Russian's are far far so unreliable, this is a good step and a good moment. Europe needs to step away from using Russian gas and it's dependencies.

I'm happy Russia is hanging himself. This issue has nothing to do with the impacted Countries.

I would like to be able to tell my gas supplier that I'm not going to pay my bill.
But I'm sure they would shut me off. Then come get the rest of the gas out of the tank I borrow from them. Then I'm pretty sure the next time we would see each other would be in a Courtroom.

Britain already has a relatively low reliance on Russia for its gas, preferring to import mainly from Norway. Cautious that Russia may do something like this, Britain took preparatory messures, and they worked. Britain is going to be better off than many of its European counterparts

I guess this is what they get for rolling tanks into Ossetia.

I always liked this quote.

"The souls of emperors and cobblers are cast in the same mould. . . . The same reason that makes us wrangle with a neighbour causes a war betwixt princes."
-Michel de Montaigne

It's funny that our leaders are as (if not more) petty and pathetic as us.

Seems to me this is on a whole different scale....people are going to be effected who had no control over the country who isn't paying up!

If you don't pay your gas and electricity bills, your gas and electricity will be cut off by the suppliers. The same applies to countries. The Ukraine has defaulted on paying its gas bill, it has only itself to blame.

Wonderful! :( Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "the cold war".

That's why every time my brother or I see a log for the fireplace we yell "Log!!!". Well sometimes he yells "Nog!", but I know he's just grabbing some eggnog.

Lets face it Russia is basically a kick in the arse of a Thirld World Country for them to get the technology and skill to produce the infrastructure that Europe has will take at least a century and by then Europe will be energy self sufficent..

Anybody want to buy a loaf of bread???

"Czech Industry Minister Martin Riman said the situation on the Ukrainian-Slovakian border "is getting worse by the minute and we would like to talk about this new situation".

Russia and Ukraine have continued to blame each other for the crisis which has struck at a time of unusually low winter temperatures across Europe."

So basically Russia is going to conquer new lands....not with armies, but with energy monopolies?

Well, I guess this is a far more civilized way to wage a territorial war than the bloodbath we're seeing in Gaza.

Now now Russia play nice with the others.

Sounds fun. More reason to be energy independent!

Ucraine is provoking Russia wiht the help of the EU.

This is a pretty aggressive move. You wouldn't think that an Ex-head of the KGB, military sniper, and 6th degree black belt like Putin would be capable of such a mean thing. ;) It's going to be a cold night in Paris, snuggle-up.

This is what happens when a country has a disproportianate reliance on another country for energy. Ukraine may be the first victim but this will not be the last time a country is held to ransom.

Energy is the next battleground for world powers and it is in our interests financially and for security to do all we can to pursue renewable energy.