Turkmenistan is ready to sell some of its vast gas reserves to Europe, a state-run newspaper reported today, quoting the country’s president.

Russia’s natural gas monopoly warned Belarus today not to siphon gas from the main pipeline leading across its territory to Europe if it goes ahead with a threatened supply cut-off on New Year’s Day.

Georgia will pay more than double what it pays now for Russian natural gas under an agreement signed yesterday, a top executive with Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom said, in a deal that could potentially threaten its fragile economy.

Georgia will pay more than double what it pays now for Russian natural gas under an agreement signed today, a top executive with Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom said, in a deal that could potentially threaten its fragile economy.

A Russian politician and billionaire industrialist is in hospital with severe burns today after a sports car he was driving slammed into a tree and caught fire in the south of France.

Russia’s state-controlled energy giants are preparing for more acquisitions that could give the government ownership of almost half the country’s oil production, the most since privatisation of the Soviet industry began more than 10 years ago, according to a published newspaper report.

The head of Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom’s export division yesterday accused the head of the International Energy Agency of attempting to “destroy” the company by organising European governments to thwart Gazprom’s interests, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Russia’s state-controlled OAO Gazprom natural gas monopoly today accused Ukraine of diverting about $25m (€21m) worth of Russian gas intended for customers in other European countries, Russian news agencies reported.