As much as Russia’s dealings with its neighbors are predominantly perceived as an exercise in brandishing the good old “energy weapon”, Moscow has been having a hard time with its neighbors ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having incubated political elites that have based their personal wealth on the preferential conditions provided by Russian exporters of oil or gas, Russian authorities have been having a very difficult time in having the ‘near abroad’ (the term usually used for former Soviet Union nations) pay market prices. Ukraine is a splendid case in point of bilateral relations suddenly turning very sour, yet there might be another candidate in the makings, commonly known as the last dictatorship of Europe, Belarus. Heretofore Belarus had been a stable market outlet for Russian producers – its refineries are configured for Russian crude, one of them even co-owned by Gazprom Neft and Rosneft, moreover […]