Energy security: A divided house

The Europeans, who are increasingly dependent on fuel supplies from Russia, are demanding that Moscow open up its energy markets to foreign direct investment. Russia, on the other hand, has been demanding access to retail sales in European markets and credible guarantees on transit.

Divisions within the St. Petersburg summit showed up when Russia refused to sign the Energy Charter Treaty and end the Russian company Gazprom8217;s domestic monopoly over the production and supply of natural gas. Addressing a press conference here on Sunday night, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, 8216;8216;Until recently, energy security was understood as meaning stable energy supplies.8217;8217; His attempt to convince Western partners that 8216;8216;energy security is a far broader notion, including production, transportation and sale in the markets8217;8217;, led to a papering over the differences in the final statement on energy security. Similar differences between the US and Europe on global warming and a cross-cutting division on nuclear energy use has made the final document on energy security a forgettable one.

G-8 and G-5: No coordination

If the G-8 was a divided house within itself, its coordination with the five developing countries 8212; India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico 8212; was even poorer. There was an initial understanding that all the documentation of the two groups would be put out after the outreach meeting among the 13 leaders on Monday. But late on Sunday night the G-8 released its own final statements. In a matter of minutes the G-5 spokesmen were putting out their common positions. Not that the world was holding its breath for the G-5 statement. Much like the G-8 papers, the G-5 too had little of substance to say. Mercifully their 8216;8216;non-paper8217;8217; was much shorter than the whole lot of verbiage from the G-8.

Russian Communists protest

Yes, they are alive and kicking in St. Petersburg. Diehard Russian Communists, anarchists, nationalists, and pensioners, defied the ban on protests during the G-8 summit here over the weekend.

While their numbers were not large, the Moscow Times reported, their spirits were high. Their targets included nearly everyone: capitalists, fascists, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the politics of global energy markets and the Group of Eight as a whole, the report said.

G-8, the Vodka

As the Russian celebrations on hosting a world summit wound up on Monday, what better than remembering it with a new brand of vodka, called simply the G-8. So many brands of vodka appear and disappear from the world market, one is not sure it will survive very long. But who knows many years down, the last bottles of the G-8 vodka might become collectors8217; items. The sale of vodka, however, has been banned in the city for the duration of the G-8 summit.