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 of the Gazprom Neft shares for $13.1 billion. Gazprom's ability to supply natural gas to domestic market and for reexport has relied to a large extent on imports from Central Asia. In 2007, Gazprom imported a total of from Central Asia: from Turkmenistan, from Kazakhstan, and from Uzbekistan. In particular, Gazprom purchased seventy-five percent of Turkmenistan gas exports in order to supply gas to Ukraine. In 2008, Gazprom paid $130/mcm to $180/mcm for gas from Central Asia. In 2015, Gazprom's proved and probable reserves of natural gas were , a 3.8% increase from the 2011 figure which represented 18.4% of