Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Russia

Does Modi do yoga, asks Vladimir Putin

by

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on December 11, 2014. (AFP Photo/Findlay Kember)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on December 11, 2014. (AFP Photo/Findlay Kember)

Saint Petersburg: “Does Narendra Modi do yoga?” asked Russian President Vladimir Putin when he was informed that the Indian Prime Minister started a Ministry of Yoga.

He was incredulous that a ministry of yoga could be set up, and then smilingly asked why anyone would do that. He wondered if Narendra Modi practised yoga himself. He was told that it was likely, though he had not publicly said so.

“He is a good man, and a personal friend,” Mr. Putin said in reply to questions from visiting wire service reporters from around the world, including IANS.

In response to a question raised by IANS, whether he and Mr. Modi were both being seen as “tough leaders”, Mr. Putin said it was not true. “I am not tough. I am always willing to compromise,” adding that often the other side took a tough stand.

“They say they have two opinions. One that they are right. And the second that I am wrong,” Mr. Putin said at his official residence here.

(IANS)

Don't refer to IS as 'Islamic,' urges Russian Council of Muftis

by

Russian Grand Mufti Ravil Gainutdin in Moscow in December 2014

Russian Grand Mufti Ravil Gainutdin in Moscow in December 2014

by Joanna Paraszczuk, RFERL

The international community should not use the word “Islamic” when referring to the militant group Islamic State, according to the first deputy chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Rushan Abbyasov.

Abbyasov said that leaders of the Council of Muftis of Russia had joined representatives of several Arab countries in calling for the use of the word “Islamic” to be dropped when referring to IS in the media and elsewhere in public discourse.

Abbyasov made his comments in a live interview with Russia’s Vesti FM radio station ahead of a meeting in Moscow with diplomatic representatives of Yemen, Iraq, Palestine, Kuwait, Algeria, Jordan, and Sudan, pro-Moscow Russian news site RIA Novosti reported on March 3.

“We have arrived at this idea, that today we can try to neutralize these groups ideologically. At the minimum, we should remove the prefix ‘Islamic’ [from Islamic State],” Abbyasov was quoted as saying.

The Russian Council of Muftis deputy chairman said that the media and others should refer to thIS “just as [the militants] are positioning themselves — as terrorists, bandits, and radicals, but we should try to remove the prefix [of “Islamic”] that they have given themselves and which they are trying to play with,” Abbyasov told Vesti FM.

Abbyasov said he believed that dropping the term “Islamic” from the name of the militant group would have a significant impact.

“If the international community would not call them ‘Islamic’ then believe me, they can be destroyed ideologically,” he said.

Abbyasov recalled that a group of over 120 Muslim scholars had released an open letter to IS militants and followers recently.

The letter declared that the militant group’s ideology was “completely contrary to the essence of Islam,” Abbyasov said.

The letter, released in September 2014, used Koranic sources to refute the militants’ ideology.

Abbyasov said that the militants had taken elements of the Koran out of context.

“You can pull out any [Koran] quote out of context. To deal with the Koran, you don’t only need knowledge of Arabic, but of the many sciences that make it possible to reveal the full meaning of the verses and all the meanings that are inherent in the Holy Koran,” he concluded.

Abbyasov’s comments come amid increasing concerns in Russia about the threat posed by IS to the country’s security. Russia is not only concerned that Russian nationals who fight in Syria could return and commit terrorist acts on Russian soil, but also that the group’s ideology could prove a pervasive source of radicalization for Russian Muslims or Muslim foreign laborers from Central Asian countries.

Recent attempts to combat the threats Russia believes are posed by IS include a December 2014 ruling by the Supreme Court that deemed IS a terrorist group. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) included the IS group on a “unified list” of 22 terrorist groups published on its website last week.

Iran, Russia agree to produce nuclear fuel

by

Scientists conduct testing in Tehran's research center. (AFP/File)

Scientists conduct testing in Tehran’s research center. (AFP/File)

by Press TV

Iran and Russia have struck a deal to produce nuclear fuel in the Islamic Republic, Iran’s ambassador to Russia says.

“Based on a memorandum, Iran and Russia have agreed to jointly produce fuel and this is within the framework of our country’s long-term plans for nuclear fuel production,” Forsat-e Emrouz daily newspaper quoted Mehdi Sanaei as saying.

He said that the agreement is a “very positive step for deepening nuclear cooperation” between the two countries.

Sanaei said the ground is close to being broken for the construction of a second nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, where Russia has already built Iran’s first power station.

Last November, Iran and Russia agreed to build eight more nuclear power plants in Iran.

According to the deal, up to four of the projected power plants are planned to be built at the site of Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran.

The remaining four are expected to be constructed elsewhere in Iran, but the exact location has not been determined yet.

Moscow and Tehran have also expressed their intention to cooperate in the field of the nuclear fuel cycle and ecology, saying they will look into the possibility of producing components of nuclear fuel in Iran in the future.

After signing a deal on the construction of nuclear plants in 1992, Tehran and Moscow reached an agreement in 1995 to complete Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, but the project was delayed several times due to a number of technical and financial problems.

The 1,000-megawatt plant, which is operating under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reached its maximum power generation capacity in August 2012.

In September 2013, Iran officially took over from Russia the first unit of its first 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant for two years.

Putin, Sisi meet in bid to strengthen political, military ties

by

Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd R) gives an AK47 rifle as a gift to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (L) during an informal dinner in honor of Putin at Cairo Tower on February 9, 2015. Anadolu.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd R) gives an AK47 rifle as a gift to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (L) during an informal dinner in honor of Putin at Cairo Tower on February 9, 2015. Anadolu.

President Vladimir Putin arrived on Monday in Egypt for a two-day visit as Russia seeks to expand its reach in the Arab world’s most populous country, amid continual domestic conflicts within the north African country.

The visit by Putin is the first to Egypt in a decade and comes after a 2011 popular uprising that ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak, whom Putin met during his previous trip in 2005.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomed Putin on arrival at Cairo’s international airport where the two leaders held talks for half an hour, officials said.

From the airport they proceeded to Cairo Opera House in the capital’s central district of Zamalek for a cultural evening.

Experts say Putin’s visit is also aimed at showing that he is not isolated internationally, despite the crisis in Ukraine.

“The leaders will pay special attention to ramping up trade and economic ties between the two countries,” the Kremlin said ahead of the visit.

They will hold formal talks on Tuesday and are expected to sign agreements after which Putin and Sisi will hold a joint news conference, Sisi’s office announced.

They are also expected to discuss Iraq, Syria and Libya, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Russia had hosted Sisi’s predecessor Mursi during his one-year presidency, despite categorizing the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist group” in 2003. In this context, Russia was also one of the first countries to endorse Sisi’s presidential bid last year.

Posters of Putin were put up on Cairo’s main roads greeting the Russian leader in Russian, Arabic and English.

Plans for a nuclear power plant, arms deals

In the same vein, Sisi said that Cairo and Moscow had agreed plans to jointly build Egypt’s first nuclear power plant.

A memorandum of understanding to build the facility was signed by Egyptian and Russian officials during Putin’s visit to the country.

Experts suggest during Putin’s visit military discussion and arms deal negotiations will take place by the two countries’ representatives.

The Soviet Union was the main supplier of arms to Egypt in the 1960s and early 1970s. Cooperation between the two sides dropped after Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty and Cairo began receiving generous US aid.

Sisi himself visited Russia when he was defense minister soon after ousting Mursi amid deteriorating relations with Washington, and followed it up with another trip in August 2014 as president.

At their meeting last summer at Putin’s holiday residence in Sochi, the two discussed Russia supplying weapons to Egypt.

Cairo also hosted the Russian defense and foreign ministers in November — the first such visit since the Soviet era — for discussions on an Egyptian arms purchase plan.

At the time, Russian media said the two sides were close to signing a $3-billion deal for Moscow to supply missiles and warplanes including MiG-29 fighters and attack helicopters.

However, in recent months Washington has warmed to Cairo again and resumed its annual $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt, also delivering Apache helicopter gunships to fight jihadists in Sinai.

Egypt’s military has been battling an insurgency in the region ever since it overthrew Mursi. The government declared a state of emergency in parts of North Sinai after an October 24 suicide attack near al-Arish killed 30 soldiers in the deadliest assault on security forces since Mursi’s ouster.

Militant groups claim their attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown targeting Mursi’s supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.

The Muslim Brotherhood says it is a peaceful movement but authorities accuse its members of being involved with a Sinai Peninsula-based Islamist insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since Mursi’s overthrow.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warns new Cold War is looming

by

Petro Poroshenko

by David Wroe, SMH

Visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned Europe is sliding towards a new Cold War and urged the world to stand up to Russia for the sake of global law and order.

Speaking in Sydney during a three-day tour as part of closer relations with Prime Minister Tony Abbott in the wake of the MH17 disaster, Mr Poroshenko also vowed that any Australian uranium sold to his country under a possible deal would be safely used.

But Russia – whose dominance of energy exports to Ukraine would be undermined by any deal between Canberra and Kiev – has already raised doubts about the prospect of Australian uranium sales, which Mr Abbott and Mr Poroshenko flagged on Thursday.

A spokesman for Moscow’s embassy in Canberra branded talk of a uranium deal a “political statement” and warned that given the conflict in eastern Ukraine, nuclear material could “fall into the wrong hands” – though Kiev’s adversaries in the conflict are rebels backed by Russia itself.

Mr Poroshenko told Sydney’s Lowy Institute that the crisis resulting from Russia’s aggression towards its smaller neighbour needed to be “tackled” by the world, not just for Ukraine’s sake but for the good of world peace and order.

“Ukraine is burning, and Europe is dangerously close to slipping back to the Cold War,” he said. “This is not a question of Ukrainian or regional security, this is a question of global security because this aggression demonstrates uneffectiveness of the post-war security system based on the Security Council of the United Nations.”

Russia wields considerable power as a veto-holding member of the Security Council but Mr Poroshenko said “we should propose to the world another idea to keep the world stable”.

Australia and Ukraine have been drawn together by the downing of flight MH17, for which Kiev and the West believe Russian-backed rebels were responsible. Fighting continues in eastern Ukraine with what are believed to be Kremlin arms and troops steadily encroaching on the region.

Mr Poroshenko said Ukraine would welcome further help from the West, including Australia, in military technology for communications, reconnaissance and intelligence “to defend ourselves” but did not need weapons.

Australia is already supplying Ukraine with non-lethal military equipment and clothing.

Mr Poroshenko also vowed the safety of any Australian uranium exports to his country, saying: “We have state of the art technology to keep it safe.”

Ukraine already has a nuclear power sector, with 15 reactors supplying about half the nation’s electricity.

But talk by Mr Abbott of supplying uranium and coal to Ukraine sends a strong political signal because it would unshackle the country from its heavy dependence on energy, including uranium and gas from its adversary Russia.

Russian embassy spokesman Alexander Odoevskiy said Australia should bear in mind that eastern Ukraine was “a conflict zone”.

“Given Ukraine’s current geopolitical situation, can it provide enough security for this nuclear industry and safeguards so [uranium] doesn’t fall into the wrong hands? I’m not sure about whether the government institutions in Ukraine are capable of providing these stringent controls.”

After Putin trip, U.S unhappy, but no change in Obama's India plans

by

ModiPutin

Washington: The US is unhappy over India doing “business as usual” with Russia, but it will have no effect on President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to India which remains an “important partner.”

“No. India remains an important partner,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Friday when asked whether deals reached during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s just concluded visit to India would change Obama’s plans.

Obama has been invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade on January 26. He will be the first US president to get that honour and the first one to visit India twice while in office.

“Obviously, our economic relationship is a big part of what we continue to work on,” Psaki said while repeating its caution to “allies and partners” that it was not time for doing business with Russian following its intervention in Ukraine.

The US, she said had seen reports about India and Russia signing agreements in oil exploration, infrastructure, defence and nuclear energy including construction of 12 Russia-built nuclear units in India over the next two decades,

“We continue to monitor it, but we haven’t looked at all the specifics of the contracts, for obvious reasons,” Psaki said. But “We continue to urge all countries not to conduct business as usual with Russia.”

Noting that “there are already sanctions in place” imposed on Russia by the US and its Western allies, Psaki said it was not calling for sanctions on other countries.

“In general, though, given the situation, it shouldn’t be business as usual,” she said.

Asked if the US had spoken to the Indians before Putin’s trip that it’s not the right time to do business with Russia, Psaki said: “Well, we’ve been engaged in that discussion.”

“I’d remind you India doesn’t support the actions of Russia and the actions – their intervention into Ukraine,” she said. “They’ve been pretty outspoken about that as well.”

On the presence of Sergey Aksyonov, prime minister of Crimea, the former Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia, in Putin’s delegation to India, which too has upset Washington, Psaki said: “I don’t have anything new to offer on that.”

Asked if the US had confirmed if he was there or not, she said: “There have been a range of reports.” But “I don’t have any US government confirmation. We’re obviously not in on the trip with them.”

Asked again if there’s any change in Obama’s trip to India, the spokesperson said emphatically: “No. No, no.”

(IANS)

Going Nuclear: Russia and India agree to build 12 power reactors by 2035

by

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on December 11, 2014. (AFP Photo/Findlay Kember)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on December 11, 2014. (AFP Photo/Findlay Kember)

by RT

Russia and India are ramping up energy ties and will construct at least 12 new nuclear reactors by 2035. Two will be completed by 2016 at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Russian state-owned power company Rosatom confirmed Thursday.

“This morning a general framework agreement was signed on the construction and equipment delivery for the third and fourth blocks of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant at the present site. Cement foundations [for the new blocks] will be poured in the beginning of 2016,” Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko said Thursday, as quoted by Sputnik news agency.

In April, Russia and India agreed to begin phase two of the Kudankulam plant, which includes adding Block 3 and Block 4. It is the only nuclear power plant which meets all the ‘post-Fukushima’ safety requirements.

“Today we will sign a strategic document that foresees the construction of no less than 12 nuclear reactors over the next 20 years, or in other words this would be no less than two nuclear power plants,” Kiriyenko said.

Talking at a press briefing in India President Putin said the two countries had signed ‘a very important’ agreement to construct the total of more than 20 nuclear reactors.

“We have reached a new level of cooperation. This isn’t just about trade and services, but this is the creation of the new industrial branch,” he went on to say.

Nuclear cooperation between Russia and India has been on the rise, and has been a main topic of discussion during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to New Delhi December 10 -11. Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also discuss at $3 billion helicopter deal, oil exploration and supply, infrastructure projects, and diamond sales by Alrosa, the Russian state-owned diamond company, to India.

Russia and India first agreed to build the Kudankulam nuclear plant in November 1988, and the first 1,000-megawatt reactor ‘Block 1’ was completed on October 22, 2013. The second power block has also been completed, but needs to be tweaked before it can be connected to the grid. The plant is located in the southern Indian province of Tamil Nadu.

Other deals included a 10-year contract between Rosneft and Essar, India’s big international conglomerate, for the delivery 10 million tons of oil annually. The oil will be transported via ship from the Far East as well as the Baltic and Black Seas.

GLONASS, Russia’s satellite navigation system, will create a $100 million joint venture in India to help produce navigation systems and quick response receivers.

Russia will also assist in the creation of an Indian mobile phone operator.

Relations with India have become a priority for the Kremlin, as US-led sanctions have hindered diplomatic and economic ties between Russia and the West.

Bilateral trade between the two BRICS nations in 2013 was $10 billion, a small amount compared to the $90 billion Russia exchanges with China or the €326 billion it turns over with the European Union every year.

Putin visit could bring sparkle back to India-Russia ties

by

President of Russia Vladimir Putin.(RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin)

President of Russia Vladimir Putin.(RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin)

by Ranjana Narayan

New Delhi: India-Russia ties are set to get the sparkle of diamonds during the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin next week during which both sides would also seek to draw up a long-term vision of their key strategic ties.

Putin will also address a joint session of the Indian parliament.

The Russian president will be meeting Modi on Dec 11 for the 15th India-Russia Annual Summit. Though the exact schedule of his visit has not yet been firmed up, Putin is expected to arrive on Dec 10 evening, or land early on Dec 11 itself, it is understood.

Though both Modi and Putin have met earlier at international gatherings, no structured bilateral talks have been held so far. Both leaders have also not had any informal talks that would help both to strike a personal rapport, like that between Modi and US President Barack Obama, or with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Modi appears to have struck a personal chord with Obama and especially so with Abbott, which was visible during his Australia visit.

Modi met with Putin in July during the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – summit in Fortaleza, Brazil and later during the informal BRICS meeting in Brisbane, Australia, on the sidelines of the G20 last month. During the Brisbane gathering, the meeting between Modi and Putin was brief.

The Delhi summit talks is expected to provide both leaders an opportunity to know each other’s mind and points of view. India has moved away from Russia in recent years, a far cry from the special relationship that the two countries enjoyed during the Soviet era.
Putin had, however, struck a special rapport with former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who attended 10 of the annual bilateral summit meetings.

India and Russia are expected to ink a vision document giving a fillip to their long-term relationship, especially under the government of Narendra Modi, which came to power six months ago.

The visit comes as the Russian economy has taken a beating due to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and its currency, the rouble, suffering the biggest fall since 1998 due to the dip in global oil prices. Russia is a major oil exporter.

Alrosa, a leading Russian diamond miner, is also looking to working closely with the Indian cutting and polishing industry. The Indian diamond industry buys roughs, produced mostly in Russia, from Dubai and Belgium. India has a major cutting and polishing industry with cities like Surat and Jaipur being major centres.

State-owned Alrosa accounts for around 25 percent of the world output of roughs, while the Indian diamond processing industry accounts for some 60 percent by value of global polished diamond output. An estimated 14 out of 15 polished diamonds studded in jewellery globally are cut and polished in India.

In 2013, Alrosa produced 36.9 million carats of rough. India imported 163.11 million carats of roughs worth $16.34 billion, and exported 36.46 million carats of polished diamonds worth $20.23 billion in 2013. But, direct import of rough diamonds from Russia to India stands at a modest $767 million, a little less than five percent of India’s total import of roughs.

Both sides are of the view that direct supplies of rough diamonds could boost bilateral trade in roughs to $5 billion. Russia is the largest diamond-producing nation in the world, estimated to have produced a little over 33 million carats in 2013, with Alrosa accounting for approximately 97 percent.

In April this year, India’s Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and Alrosa signed a memorandum of understanding to share diamond trade data. The GJEPC has suggested the Indian government set up a special trading zone at the Bharat Diamond Bourse in Mumbai, and replicate the same in Surat at a later stage, said reports.

(IANS)

Gorbachev: U.S 'triumphalism' fueling new Cold War

by

Former Soviet leader: ‘We need to return to the starting line when we began building a new world’

Mikhail Gorbachev at the European Parliament in 2008. (Photo: <a href=

@European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari/flickr/cc)” width=”955″ height=”500″ /> Mikhail Gorbachev at the European Parliament in 2008. (Photo: @European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari/flickr/cc)

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said the United States is the cause of emerging signs of a new Cold War as a result of the country’s sense of “triumphalism.”

The 83-year-old made the comments Monday in an interview with the Russian state-owned news agency TASS.

“Now the signs of cold war have again emerged,” he said. “Fences are being built around us.”

“I don’t want to praise our government too much,” the UK’s Telegraph quotes Gorbachev as saying in the interview. “It has also made quite a few errors, but today the danger comes from the American position. They are tortured by triumphalism.”

“This whole process may and needs to be stopped. It was stopped in the 1980s. And we opted for deescalation and reunification. Back then it was harsher than today. And now we can also do this,” Gorbachev said.

“We need to return to the starting line when we began building a new world in Europe and everywhere,” he said, referring to his historic 1989 meeting in Malta with President George H. W. Bush.

“There will be people who have the courage to stop this [new Cold War] and start building a new world order that would answer the challenges that the world community is facing,” he said.

Gorbachev’s comments come as the latest ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia appears to have failed. Ongoing violence has killed over 4,000 people since the conflict erupted in April.

Putin, blocked by Europe, turns to Turkey for Gas Pipeline

by

President of Russia Vladimir Putin.(RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin)

President of Russia Vladimir Putin.(RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin)

by Juan Cole

The Russian annexation of Crimea and heavy interference in the Ukraine has had a significant consequence for its hydrocarbon industry. President Vladimir Putin has been forced to cancel a planned natural gas pipeline that would bring the fuel to southern Europe, because of European Union pressure for boycotting Russia. Moscow will not suffer very much economically, however, since it can sell as much natural gas to Turkey as it had been planning to sell to southern Europe, though perhaps at a bigger discount (Turkey has 75 people and is the world’s 17th largest economy. Greece has 11 million people and a small economy.)

The Ukraine crisis was in some ways provoked by aggressive expansionism by the EU and NATO into former Russian spheres of influence, in contradiction to promises made by the West to Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in the early 1990s. But be that as it may, Russia’s unilateral annexation of the Crimea and heavy interference in eastern Ukraine is inconsistent with international law.

Turkey plans to grow its economy substantially in the coming decade and is energy hungry, lacking much in the way of gas or oil itself, though it has coal. Slightly discounted Russian natural gas seems a good deal to Ankara. Moreover, Turkey has been rudely rebuffed in its bid to join the European Union, and this deal with Russia is a way for the Turks to remind the Europeans that if the EU had wanted Turkey to join its consensus, it could have admitted Turkey. As things now stand, Ankara is a free agent, and glories in its independence. Russian natural gas also has advantages for Turkey at the moment over Iranian natural gas, since the US has been pressuring countries not to deal with Iran or to allow bank transfers of money from Iran.

The significant political differences between Turkey and Russia on the Crimean Tartars and on Bashar al-Assad in Syria appear to have proved no bar to these economic deals.

Environmentally, burning natural gas is bad, but it isn’t nearly as bad as burning coal; some consider it half as carbon-intensive as coal, but that idea probably underestimates the methane emitted in drilling for gas. And, Turkey has big plans for coal. A Greenpeace study [pdf] observes:

“According to the World Resources Institute, Turkey plans 50 coal-fired power plants with a total installed capacity of 37,000 MW. This will rank Turkey first among OECD countries investing in new installed coal capacity and fourth globally, behind only China, India and Russia. Some projections suggest up to 86 new coal plant projects, when accounting for those that are in the process of permitting and those that have failed the application process.

In 2011, Turkey’s overall energy mix was comprised of 31% coal, 32% natural gas, and 27% petrol, with the remaining 10% composed of hydropower, wood/biofuels and wind. The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resource’s energy vision for 2023 predicts a near doubling of total energy sources, with the only significant difference that use of gas would decrease in relative terms to 23% and the use of coal would increase to 37%. In absolute terms this would mean a 2.3-fold increase of coal use in just 12 years.”

A person can only hope that the diversion of Russian natural gas to Turkey will forestall the building of some of those 50 or 85 coal plants, which are an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen. Why sunny and windy Turkey doesn’t initiate a crash program of renewables is a huge mystery, since then their fuel would be free and their economy would really take off.

My advice to Greece and other southern European countries that Putin has just by-passed for natural gas is to turn to renewables rather than seeking to replace Russian gas with Qatari. Italy gets 7% of its electricity from solar. Greece so far has little wind or solar power, its main renewable source for electricity being hydroelectric. About half of its electricity comes from dirty lignite coal. A quarter is from gas. Greece has enormous solar and wind potential but its government hasn’t promoted it. Putin wants to maneuver Turkey into reselling Russian gas to southern Europe, so as to sidestep sanctions. But if Turkey and Greece initiated a crash program of renewables they would save money and remove themselves from the geopolitical cross fire.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives