Russia's parliament approved a law on Wednesday granting gas monopoly Gazprom the exclusive right to export gas, despite Moscow's pledge to the European Union to gradually liberalise its markets.
The law, seen as part of Moscow's growing resource nationalism, stipulates that gas must be considered a strategic material and therefore should be exported only by Gazprom or its export arm, Gazexport, to protect national interests. "The move is a clear signal to the European Union that Russia will do things on its own terms, and does not bode well for the July G8 summit," said Adam Landes, chief energy analyst at Renaissance Capital.
The Kremlin, which is regaining control over strategic industries, has declined to comment on the law and it remains unclear whether President Vladimir Putin will support it. Putin has put energy security high on the agenda of the G8 meeting of industrialised nations, which Russia is hosting for the first time this month in St Petersburg.