| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Russia Expects Bush to Have Enough Wisdom to Veto NOPEC
The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Tuesday to pass the “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007” (NOPEC), signaling the governments of Russia and OPEC will better start getting ready to being sued in the U.S. courts for price manipulation. The response of Russia was predictably negative.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted May 22 for amending the Sherman Antitrust Act that bans cartel agreements for oil producers and exporters. If it takes effect, the bill will terminate sovereign immunity of OPEC from the U.S. legal action and allow to sue its members in the courts of the United States.
Russia retaliated to this move of the House predictably harshly. RF Foreign Ministry called it “the breach of international laws,” while Valery Yazev, who is the chairman at State Duma’s Energy Committee, referred to it as “the outrage upon principles of international policy” and hoped “the U.S. president will have enough power and wisdom to veto this bill, which will trigger a wave of protest worldwide.”
The response of Europe appears much more cautious. There, the general attitude is that deliberations are still underway in the United States and that the bill is yet to get go-ahead of the Senate and be signed into law by the president. But no matter how George Bush will respond to NOPEC, it is clear that the bill is aimed not at his administration but rather at the next one. From time to time, the sources say, some republican advisors urged the White House to amend the Sherman Act, to no avail though.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 24, 2007
|
|
|
