Final Word from Friday, January 12, 2007
Everyone knows Borat, but not everyone knows that his glorious Kazakhstan has a third of the world's uranium reserves. Just days before Russia dramatically shut off oil to Belarus, it quietly launched a JV that allows it to tap into these rich reserves. In retrospect, it might have been as significant a deal as Putin's wrenching of 50% control of Belarus's pipeline network from Lukashenko. The Belarus mini-crisis is pushing Europe more toward nuclear power, but that same crisis is throwing Europe into Russia's nuclear arms. True, nuclear fuel is easier to transport and store, making it easier to switch suppliers, but as demand grows, so will Russia's role. Ex-Industry Minister Vladimír Dlouhý yesterday became the first public figure, other than a few journalists, to express dismay at ČEZ's decision to give all its nuclear-fuel business to Russia, without concern for the strategic implications.[Czech Republic joint venture Vladimir Alexander atomic energy Goldman Sachs