If Germany Holds Firm On EU Deal, Greece Can Look To USA, Russia, China – 10 February 2015

Greece warns that if informal EU leader Germany remains rigid on granting Athens a new deal, it will seek assistance elsewhere. The US, Russia and China are the possible candidates.

READ MORE: Greek PM says troika bailout failed, will not ask for extension

The warning came from new Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, who assumed office after the populist Syriza party won general election in January and its leader Alexis Tsipras took the prime ministership from Antonis Samaras.

“What we want is a deal. But if there is no deal – hopefully (there will be) – and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow apart Europe, then we have the obligation to go to Plan B. Plan B is to get funding from another source,” he told Greek television on an overnight show running into early Tuesday, as reported by Reuters.

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Russia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela Decide Not To Cut Oil Production – 26 November 2014

Delegations from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela have met for the first time in such a format for talks in Vienna to discuss rapidly dropping oil prices. The group agreed to monitor prices for a year

READ MORE: OPEC may decide to give Iraq, Iran, and Libya immunity from oil supply cut

The energy ministers have not agreed upon cutting oil production, as such agreements can only be reached during OPEC meetings, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez said following the talks held at the Park Hyatt in Vienna on Tuesday.

He added that the group also believes the current oil prices are too low, and named a fair price at $100 per barrel.

Russia’s Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak and Igor Sechin, the head of state oil company Rosneft, attended the meeting.

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Russia, Iran Sign Nuclear Construction Deal For 8 Units – 12 November 2014

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Russia is to build eight nuclear power units in Iran, as a new partnership agreement, guaranteed by the IAEA, was signed in Moscow on Tuesday.The head of the Rosatom, Sergey Kirienko, and the chief of the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, signed a series of documents, promoting the links in the field of peaceful application of atomic energy between the countries, RIA Novosti reports.

According to the agreement, Russia is to construct eight units with pressurized water reactors “turn-key ready” in Iran. Four of them will be built at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, also completed by Russia a year ago.

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Russia, Ukraine Agree On Gas Supplies Until March 2015 – 31 October 2014

Russia, Ukraine, and the European Commission have signed an agreement on gas supply and transit conditions until March 2015 during talks in Brussels.

The agreement was signed by Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yury Prodan, and vice president of the EC in charge of energy, Guenther Oettinger. The signing was witnessed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the EC’s new vice president in charge of energy, Marosh Shefchovich.

Ukraine will be able to receive the needed volumes of Russian gas until the end of March based on a pre-payment plan at a price of $378 per 1,000 cubic meters, Oettinger said during the press conference.

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Russia, China Prepare To Sign Unique Cybersecurity Treaty – Report – 21 October 2014

An unprecedented treaty on cybersecurity cooperation could be signed during Vladimir Putin’s state visit to China in November, a Russian business daily reports.

Popular newspaper Kommersant quoted unnamed sources “close to the Kremlin” as saying that the final text of the “two-sided agreement on cooperation in the field of information security” was not ready yet, but officials hope the document will be signed on November 10.

The draft treaty states the two countries oppose the use of information technology to meddle in the internal affairs of independent states, to undermine national sovereignty as well as political, economic and social stability and public order, Kommersant reported.

The daily’s sources also added that Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were expected to deliver a joint address on cybersecurity in the course of Putin’s visit to China.

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Russia, Ukraine Agree To Kick-Start Stalled Gas Talks – 27 August 2014

Leaders of Russia and Ukraine have decided to resume talks on energy issues between the two countries in September, as fears of gas delivery disruptions and Kiev’s unwillingness to settle disputes and pay bills threaten Europe’s energy security.

Following an intense round of direct talks between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, the head of the Russian state said that both leaders were able to reach an agreement on the resumption of consultations on energy and gas.

Yet Putin said, there is “a lot of concrete questions,” stressing that while Russia fully complies with all the conditions of the gas contracts with Ukraine, the actions of Naftogaz create risks for gas transit to Europe.

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Russia, Egypt Looking To Create A Free Trade Zone – Putin – 12 August 2014

Egypt and the countries of the Customs Union are looking into creating a free trade zone, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the Black Sea city of Sochi.

“An important agreement was reached to establish cooperation between Egypt and the Customs Union [of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan],” said the Russian President. “And now we are looking at a possibility of creating a free trade zone.”

He noted that this subject had been discussed at a meeting of the council of the Common Economic Space on July 7.

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Russia, China Agree More Trade Currency Swaps To Bypass Dollar – 8 August 2014

The Russian and Chinese central banks have agreed a draft currency swap agreement, which will allow them to increase trade in domestic currencies and cut the dependence on the US dollar in bilateral payments.

“The draft document between the Central Bank of Russia and the People’s Bank of China on national currency swaps has been agreed by the parties,” and is at the stage of formal approval procedures, ITAR-TASS quotes the Russian regulator’s office on Thursday.

The Russian Central Bank is not giving precise details on the size of the currency swaps, nor when it will be launched. It says this will depend on demand.

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Russia, Serbia Agree €2.1Bn South Stream Construction Deal – 9 July 2014

Serbia has signed a 2.1 billion euro contract with Gazprom subsidiary Centrgaz to construct the South Stream pipeline across its territory. There is increasing pressure from the EU to suspend the project because it claims it breaks competition law.

Centrgaz will be involved in the design, procurement, construction and installation activities, personnel training and commissioning, while Serbian subcontractors will carrying out some of the work, according to South Stream.

The signing ceremony was held in Serbia on Tuesday between South Stream Serbia and Centrgaz.

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EU, Russia, Ukraine To Discuss Gas Debt, Discount On June 2 – 2 June 2014

ITAR-TASS

Ukraine’s parliament-appointed PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Monday’s talk will either result in signing a Russian-Ukrainian deal or in Kiev turning to a Stockholm arbitration court

Quote: MOSCOW, June 02. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia confirmed receiving $786.4 million as payment for part of Ukrainian gas debt on Monday, the day when Moscow, Kiev and EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger will meet to discuss gas agreement and discounts.

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