Gazprom Monitor Annual Review. Summer 2015 — December 2016

Given the complexities and present-day dynamics of Eurasian gas markets, we at the European Geopolitical Forum feel it necessary to provide, in addition to the monthly Gazprom Monitor reports, a high-level yearly summary. We feel the additional perspective and analysis made possible through this extended format will be invaluable for policymakers, business leaders, and other interested stakeholders. As with our monthly Gazprom Monitor, this Annual Review will focus on Gazprom"s external activities, with particular reference to the EU gas market, the ongoing EU antimonopoly investigation into Gazprom"s activities on the EU gas market, the Nord Stream and Turkish Stream export pipelines, Gazprom"s relations with Naftogaz Ukraine in the context of Russia-Ukraine relations, and the competition Gazprom faces regarding Russia"s LNG exports. We also provide analysis on the "eastern dimension" of Gazprom"s business, in the Asia-Pacific region.

The report briefly summarises developments prior to mid-2015 as background information and then provides more detail on developments taking place during the last 18 months. In doing so, this Annual Review assumes no prior knowledge on behalf of the reader. For further background information, please refer back to the previous year"s Annual Review. While this voluminous work can be read in its entirety, the report is also structured in a manner where the reader may choose to delve into the individual sub-sections of the report on their own, as highlighted in the table of contents on the following page. Finally, it should be added that the information and analysis provided in this report is predominantly the work of the author, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the European Geopolitical Forum as an organisation.