When the CEO of Russian state gas giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, opened a lavish Italian palazzo-styled building in central St. Petersburg to house the company¡¯s export arm 11 years ago, he augured a future funded by European sales.
¡°This is symbolic,¡± he said, referring to the modern new offices in Russia¡¯s most European city. ¡°Europe will increasingly need Russian gas.¡±
Instead, the opulent offices have come to symbolize Gazprom¡¯s rapid decline, dragged down by the almost total loss of European markets after the war in Ukraine ruptured Russia¡¯s ties with the West.
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