Confident for the euro, Russia and Europe may join single currency someday in the future. Mr. Vladimir Putin took part in the German – Russian summit in Berlin. The euro has proven itself “a stable world currency,” Russian Prime Minister said. “We have to get away from the overwhelming dollar monopoly. It makes the world economy vulnerable,” Putin added. Earlier in a letter edited by a German newspaper the former President wrote “We should be frank about it: The global economic crisis has revealed both Russia and the EU to be economically very vulnerable.” Mr. Putin suggested to create a free-trade zone.

Mrs. Angela Merkel called that a “vision for the future,” and stressed the need for close economic cooperation as a first step. “But the closer our economies are linked, the easier and the more interesting it will be to adjust also the currency policy,” the German Chancellor said. In the meantime, Mrs. Merkel added, Moscow had to conclude talks to join the W.T.O. Russia, which opened its bid to join the WTO in 1993, is the last major world power not a member of the Geneva-based global trade body.

Mr. Putin expressed criticism to the Third Energy Package. Agreed in 2009, it was designed to liberalize the EU’s energy markets by separating the production and distribution networks of large energy companies to foster more competition. The other element of the package allowed smaller energy companies access to the grids, which had been blocked by the big companies. “Our companies, together with German partners, legally acquired distribution assets in Lithuania,” Mr. Putin said. “Now they are being thrown out there with reference to the Third Energy Package. What is this then? What is this robbery?”

 Europe needs a new strategy for energy. The narrow interests of national capitals prevailed too long. EU leaders will be asked to support a plan for unity at the first EU energy summit on February 2011. These are the main points in European Union Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger’s programme unveiled in Brussels. According to his remarks the Twenty-seven have to invest 1 trillion euros  over the next decade in a shared EU energy network.

 The International Energy Agency forecasted global oil supplies would peak around 2035, when oil prices would exceed $200 a barrel, kicking off a scramble for alternative energy sources. “To have an efficient, competitive and low-carbon economy, we have to Europeanize our energy policy and focus on a few, but pressing, priorities,” Oettinger said. The idea of uniting Europe’s infrastructure is not new, nor is that of liberalizing the markets for the gas and electricity that flow through it.

 Article –  Deutsche Welle – November 2010.

 Prime Minister Donald Tusk campaigned in 2007 on expediting privatization, even before the crisis hit, and the revenues from the sales, which were planned to be held from 2008 to 2011, are now helping the country cover a budget deficit that could grow to 8 percent of GDP this year, Tusk admitted this month.

 Growth in the country has unfortunately not meant stable public finances, then, as the government has, for the moment, relied on the privatization of more than 800 companies to cover costs. Compared with countries like the Czech Republic and Germany, Poland has not adopted austerity measures, preferring instead to continue feeding growth.

 The privatization plan is expected to generate 25 billion złoty (6.4 billion euros) over four years.

  Article – The Prague Post – October 2010.