Russia suspected of funding anti-fracking movement

Russia suspected of funding anti-fracking movement
(Image credit: Gareth Fuller - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Gazprom, the Russian-owned energy behemoth, is suspected of funding anti-fracking protests in Eastern Europe, according to The New York Times. Russia reportedly sees fracking — a controversial drilling technology that has unlocked massive reservoirs of natural gas in the U.S. and elsewhere — as a threat to its domination of the European natural gas market.

Gazprom, a state-controlled energy giant, has a clear interest in preventing countries dependent on Russian natural gas from developing their own alternative supplies of energy, [Romanian officials] say, preserving a lucrative market for itself — and a potent foreign policy tool for the Kremlin...

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.