Energy policy of Russia and in a few cases explicit political demands are evident. Starting 1 January 2007 Gazprom increased the price of natural gas to Azerbaijan from US$110 to $235 per thousand cubic metres. (At the time, Gazprom charged the EU US$250.) Azerbaijan refused to pay this price and the gas supply to Azerbaijan stopped. On its side, Azerbaijan stopped oil exports to and via Russia. A year earlier, pro-Russian Armenia was hit with the same 100% price increase as Western-oriented Georgia, Vladimir Socor has observed. The Russia-Belarus energy dispute began when Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom demanded an increase in gas prices
Gazprom–RusVelo Gazprom–RusVelo Gazprom–RusVelo (), a part of the Russian Global Cycling Project, is a Russian road & track cycling team. It was founded in late 2011 and granted UCI Professional Continental status. For its first season 2012 the team signed several ex- riders along with a few ones from Continental Team . RusVelo includes both men's and women's rosters. The directors are Viatcheslav Ekimov, Oleg Grishkin, Egon van Kessel from the Netherlands, and Australian Henk Vogels. The General Manager is Heiko Salzwedel. In December 2012, RusVelo's request for a Professional Continental licence for the 2013 season was denied pending a review.