This paper will mainly address Russian policy issues. The four areas mentioned above represent very different fields of the energy sector. The oil sector comprises a strongly business-oriented group of companies which are not highly politicised, in contrast to how they are often presented in the European mass media. The gas sector, by contrast, continues to be a major political tool of Russian foreign policy. The electricity sector is in the process of rapid liberalisation. Finally, the environmental dimension of energy policy is starting to make its presence felt in Russia’s strategy
