Search Results for: Russia

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CZECH presidency of the European Union (EU) has said it will redouble its aims to push ahead with planned energy reforms to strengthen the EU’s ability to withstand the recurrence of a crisis such as the recent Russia-Ukraine gas row.…

BY DAVID ANDERSON

ORGANISED crime is much more low-key in Russia today than in the wild-east days of the1990s. But that does not mean it has gone away. And, as David Anderson reports, the fluctuations in the price of oil are likely to provide plenty of opportunities for further illicit gains.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MANDATORY national and European Union (EU) contingency action plans must be drafted to deal with energy emergencies such as that recently provoked by the Russia-Ukraine gas row, MEPs have argued.

The European Parliament’s influential industry committee has suggested the idea in a set of wide-ranging recommendations for future EU energy policy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced it wants Euro 3.5 billion of the general European Union (EU) economic recovery plan it announced in November spent on energy investment. It has proposed spending Euro 1.75 billion on gas and electricity interconnection projects; Euro 500 million on offshore wind power; and Euro 1.25 billion on carbon capture and storage.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN EXTRAORDINARY European Union (EU) Council of Ministers energy meeting has agreed medium and long-term measures to prevent a recurrence of a future gas supply crisis resembling this month’s row between Russia and the Ukraine. Ministers said the EU would fund improved metering, promote administrative transparency in gas supply systems feeding into member states’ networks, improved gas interconnection infrastructure and creating a better early warning system.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE COMPANY at the heart of the row between Ukraine and Russia over the alleged tapping of European gas supplies is being considered for a US$110 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD). It is assessing an application from Galnaftogas for a loan backing its acquisition and capital expenditure programme, which would include the development of a nationwide compressed natural gas (CNG) station network.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AGREEMENT has been struck over future European Union (EU) targets for CO2 emissions from cars, with an informal deal being forged by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers. The agreement is a compromise, with energy and automobile companies securing a phase-in between 2012 and 2015 of an agreed 120g/km target.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES, DOMINIQUE PATTON and LUCY JONES

The growth in outsourcing within the clothing and textile sector worldwide has highlighted a key issue, and that is the relative merits of running an integrated company that handles basic production and design, or relying on a string of specialist suppliers to deliver the goods, from fibre supplies, to textile manufacture, design, clothing assembly and retail.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

BANGLADESH’S clothing and ready made garment sector is undergoing unprecedented expansion, registering an average growth of 20% year on year, and with plans to be one of the top three exporters globally by 2013.

In the first four months of Bangladesh’s fiscal year, from July to September 2008, the sector reported 45% growth in exports of woven and knitwear to US$3.35 billion, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exports Association (BGMEA).…

BY CRISTINA MUNTEAN

THE SECURITY of energy supply, including oil and gas storage capacity, dominates the current energy agenda of the Czech Republic, which took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) from January 1, 2009.

This is no surprise: on July 10, 2008, Russian oil pipeline operator Transnieft cut monthly contracted oil deliveries by almost half from 500,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes via the Druzhba pipeline.…