Moscow and Minsk do not know how to agree on oil export and transit Although Moscow and Minsk promised to agree on the export of hydrocarbons to Belarus before the end of last year, the positions of the parties are still far from each other. Moreover, the member countries of the union state continue to communicate through ultimatums.

Poland is ready to release strategic gas reserves The cold winter and failure to reach an agreement with Russia to increase gas supplies forced the Polish government to consider emergency measures. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Poland Waldemar Pawlak, who was responsible for negotiations with Gazprom, was forced to allow the infrastructure subsidiary of the state concern PGNiG to meet the country's gas needs from strategic reserves located in underground storage facilities.

Barack Obama turned to populism US President Barack Obama's plan to tax banks, announced late last week, may face stiff resistance from congressmen. The Republican Party, which is in opposition to the president, calls the new tax populist, but the Democratic Party is also not enthusiastic about the project. European leaders approve of Obama's plan, but are not ready to resort to similar measures.

OPEC and Russia are ready to meet oil demand This year, compared to last year, global oil demand will increase by 1.7%, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts. The main consumers, according to experts, should be the developing countries of Asia. And the OPEC countries will react primarily to the increase in demand by violating quotas and increasing oil production, the IEA believes.

Why do authorities give priority to social stability? Barack Obama's desperate anti-banking rhetoric looks striking against the background of how just a year ago the American authorities (both the previous and the new administration) motivated the provision of large-scale resources to the financial sector. Then it was said that restoring the banks’ capacity was vital for restoring the entire economy.