EconAir

Middle East Oil Wells OVERVIEW Outside of the United States and Canada, most of the world’s oil and natural gas is owned and produced by governments or government-dominated companies with minority shareholders. Two examples of the latter, public companies with stockholders, are Petrobras in Brazil and Gazprom in Russia.   But government officials, especially the president, control management and make the important decisions. Production and investment decisions are not made based on financial criteria alone.   Often, internal political or foreign geopolitical factors are more important. Many countries' economies and government budgets depend critically on oil and natual gas revenue from exports. Maintaining internal peace and welfare programs are more important than rational economic considerations. What this means is that production and distribution decisions in these countries are made using different criteria than by private companies in the United State...

Russian T-72 Tank Seen in Ukraine   HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Most of what is now Ukraine came under Russian control in the 1700s, due to the expansionist policies of Catherine the Great.   Part of western Ukraine (Galicia) was a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.   With the collapse of the Romanov regime in 1917 and Austria-Hungary in 1918, Ukrainians attempted to establish an independent republic.   During the Russian Civil War, Ukrainian nationalist groups fought on the side of the Communist Red Army because they knew that if the monarchy were reestablished, Ukraine would be forced back into the Russian Empire.   Their hopes for independence were crushed as the triumphant Communist regime absorbed Ukraine into the Soviet Union. Ukrainians suffered under the Stalinist regime.   Because the Ukraine was the “bread basket” of the Soviet Union, grain and other crops were systematically confiscated by the Communist government to feed in...

  Petro Poroshenko “You don’t understand, George, that Ukraine is not even a state.” Vladimir Putin to George W. Bush, April 2008 FACT SHEET Size of country – largest totally in Europe (size of Texas)             Borders seven countries (see map), mostly Russia and Belarus             Russia or pro-Russian countries and regions (Moldova) on three sides Ethnic -   77% Ukrainian             17% Russian speaking (about 9-10 million people)                         Mostly in eastern provinces, Odessa and Crimea.             6% Other, including Crimean Tatars          ...