Open for business

The Russian government has taken the first steps toward the deregulation of its gas and power markets, and despite recent the high-profile Yukos scandal, investors are eyeing up some interesting opportunities. By Paul Lyon

As the arrest for fraud of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, chief executive of Russianoil company Yukos, continues to grab headlines, developments in the country’selectricity and gas markets have gone relatively unnoticed. This is surprisinggiven the importance of pending changes. Indeed, Russia’s electricity andgas markets could provide interesting investment opportunities for European andUS energy firms.

For the past decade, the Russian government has struggled to determine whichcommodity sectors