EU leaders put necks further into Russian energy noose.(OAO Gazprom signs ENI Corp.)(Brief article)

With the Italian and Russian energy ministers looking on in approval, Italy's largest energy company, ENI, and Russia's state-owned Gazprom signed a deal in Rome on June 23 to build a gas pipeline from Russia via Bulgaria and the Black Sea to northern and southern Europe. The pipeline, to be called "South Stream," calls for 550 miles of pipeline to be laid under the Black Sea be fore splitting off into a northern route through Hungary and Austria and a southern route through Greece. The ENI-Gazprom signing came during the week-long meeting of top international experts at the Global Energy Leaders Summit in London sponsored by the Financial Times newspaper.

Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported from the summit that EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told RFE, "There is no reason to doubt Russia's dependability as a supplier, as it is in the country's financial interests to deliver on its ...