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RUSSIA

Saipem told to stop work on Russian gas project

Saipem, the Italian oil services company, said on Thursday that it had been told by Russia’s Gazprom to suspend work on the South Stream gas pipeline project.

Saipem told to stop work on Russian gas project
The South Stream gas project was intended to channel gas from Russia to Europe. Andrej Isakovic/AFP

The company said it received a “notification of suspension of marine spread activities” on December 2nd, the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin told a press conference in Istanbul that the multi-billion euro project may come to a standstill.

Saipem was awarded a €2 billion contract to build the first line of the 2,500km-pipeline, which would have channelled gas from Russia to Europe, in March this year.

“At present it is not possible to determine the economic impact of the suspension on Saipem’s business, as both the duration of the suspension and the client’s ultimate decision on the project are unknown,” the company added in the statement on its website.

Italian oil giant Eni also holds a 20 percent stake in the project, while Gazprom owns 50 percent. The remaining stakeholders are Germany’s Wintershall and France’s EDF. 

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RUSSIA

Russia announces no New Year’s greetings for France, US, Germany

US President Joe Biden, France's Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not be receiving New Year's greetings from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Russia announces no New Year's greetings for France, US, Germany

As the world gears up to ring in the New Year this weekend, Putin sent congratulatory messages to the leaders of Kremlin-friendly countries including Turkey, Syria, Venezuela and China.

But Putin will not wish a happy New Year to the leaders of the United States, France and Germany, countries that have piled unprecedented sanctions on Moscow over Putin’s assault on Ukraine.

“We currently have no contact with them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“And the president will not congratulate them given the unfriendly actions that they are taking on a continuous basis,” he added.

Putin shocked the world by sending troops to pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.

While Kyiv’s Western allies refused to send troops to Ukraine, they have been supplying the ex-Soviet country with weapons in a show of support that has seen Moscow suffer humiliating setbacks on the battlefield.

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