A friend of mine sharply rebuked me the other day for not writing enough on my blog.  While I can assure you all I haven't exactly been napping in the recliner, I will do my best to start picking up the slack while still juggling my legal workload (which lately consists several sharp knives, a hot potato, a bowling ball, and a nuclear warhead - let's hope I don't drop anything).  To begin with, why not revisit one of my favorite subjects:  the murky machinations of Gazprom-related business in Hungary, where the goulash state corporatism and Russia's most cheerful barracks live on despite the ravages of the economic crisis.  Although much of this story is background for the initiated, ...

Oil prices have reached a six-month high, surging to $65 a barrel.  The Russian Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has drawn up a proposal to create a reserve of lucrative oil fields.  An analysis conducted by the US Geological Survey says that nearly one-third of the world's undiscovered gas is north of the Arctic Circle, mainly lying in Russian territory, meaning the country's control of gas may be 'accentuated and extended'.  Central Europe's largest oil company OMV wants to open a delayed pipeline between Bratislava and Vienna as early as next year, which would give it direct access to Russian oil for the first time.  Italy has said it would support Moscow's proposal to have the European Union subsidize some of the gas bills that Ukraine is struggling to pay.  OPEC will leave its quotas for daily ...