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SHELL WELCOMES PUTIN’S PROPOSAL

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered Royal Dutch Shell a role in the Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4 natural gas projects on Saturday, just 2 1/2 years after Europe’s biggest oil producer was forced to cede control of Sakhalin-2 to Gazprom.

Shell welcomed the proposal, which analysts said illustrated Gazprom’s need for technologies and money to develop the difficult offshore fields rather than a government change of heart toward foreign investors.

“We consider it possible to continue a partnership with Shell on other fields, namely Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4,” Putin told Shell chief executive Jeroen van der Veer during a meeting Saturday at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence in the Moscow region.

“Your company’s competence and experience will be in demand in the remote and deep sea offshore areas,” he said, according to a transcript posted on the Kremlin’s web site.

Van der Veer, whose company now controls 27.5 percent of Sakhalin-2, said Shell was ready to begin work on the proposed projects. “We are ready to begin work on Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4 if there is such an opportunity,” ...

MEDVEDEV INKS ‘MILESTONE’ DEAL IN BAKU

BAKU — President Dmitry Medvedev sealed a “milestone” deal to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan, as Russia seeks to thwart European efforts to diversify energy suppliers.

Gazprom, Russia’s largest energy producer, agreed to buy 500 million cubic meters of Azeri gas next year, during a visit to Baku by Medvedev on Monday.

Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic ...

CRITICS FEAR RISE IN ILLEGAL GAMBLING UNDER CASINO BAN

Tuesday sees the last day of legal operations for all casinos and gambling centers in Russia. The Kremlin has launched a reform that involves setting up four large gambling zones in the Primorye region, Altai region, Kaliningrad Oblast and Azov region ...

NATO RELATIONS RESUMED

MOSCOW — NATO on Saturday agreed to resume cooperation with the Russian military, counting on the Kremlin’s help in shipping supplies to Western forces ...