Russia plays games while oil price skyrockets

Next month the former Prime Minister, Viktor Zubkov, will become chairman of the natural gas giant Gazprom, replacing Dmitri Medvedev, who is now the Russian President.

While this takes on the appearance of a game of musical chairs, the real impact of this government-business alliance will be felt when the gross inefficiencies and corruption that infect Russia’s oil industry are addressed. Until that happens, we have no reason to believe that the disastrous trend of declining Russian oil productions will reverse itself any time soon.