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Eurasian energy conference in Washington

19 February 2009 09:14 (UTC +04:00)

Washington â€“ Zaur Hasanov â€“APA. The Jamestown Foundation, USA organized a conference on the Energy Security Challenges to Europe and America in Eurasia, attended by the diplomats and experts researching the Caspian region, APA US bureau reports. Marshall Goldman, Professor of Economics at Wellesley College focused on the economic and political role of Russian Gazprom. He said Gazprom is the worldâ€™s second largest company after Exxon Mobile for its capitalization. Probably the company will increase its capital up to one trillion dollars until the end of Vladimir Putinâ€™s power. However the gas monopolistâ€™s activity is not clear for public community, said the professor. Anders Aslund, former diplomat and Senior Fellow of Peterson Institute said that Gazprom was not used only as an instrument in the international arena, but it was also appropriated by the Vladimir Putinâ€™s circumference. According to the Aslundâ€™s statistics, under the Putinâ€™s power his friends took control over the Gazpromâ€™s $80 billion property.
Roman Kupchinsky, Analyst of the Jamestown Foundation said that Moscow didnâ€™t achieve its goal in the Russian-Ukrainian gas war on the eve of New Year. It couldnâ€™t prevent the interest to the southern route. EU countries showed joint interest and Washington and Brussels intensified attention to the alternative sources to end the Gazpromâ€™s monopoly.
Vladimir Socor, well-known expert from the Jamestown Foundation urged to make guarantees for the Central Asian countries for realization of the Nabucco project. Otherwise the Asian leaders will not irritate Russia, said the expert. Socor said some European countries already made the principal decision to support the Nabucco project and Hungary demonstrated special activeness in this field. The expert thinks that Russia shouldnâ€™t be allowed to use this pipeline.
Shamil Aleskerov, Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Issues of Azerbaijanâ€™s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke about the Azerbaijanâ€™s role of linchpin to European energy security. He said Azerbaijan had enough gas resources, modern transportation infrastructure and professional human resources.
Azerbaijanâ€™s Ambassador to USA Yashar Aliyev and the embassyâ€™s counselor on the economic issue Ashraf Shikhaliyev also attended the conference.