Did China Bankroll Russia's Annexation of Crimea? The Role of Sino-Russian Energy Relations

In Helge Blakkisrud and Elana Wilson Rowe (eds) Russia’s Turn to the East: Domestic Policymaking and Regional Cooperation, Cham: Palgrave, pp. 95–118.

24 Pages Posted: 18 Jun 2018

See all articles by Indra Overland

Indra Overland

NUPI - Norwegian Institute of International Affairs; NUPI - Norwegian Institute for International Affairs

Gulaikhan Kubayeva

The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia

Date Written: 2018

Abstract

This chapter analyses bilateral Chinese–Russian energy relations, pre and post Crimea. The signing of the Power of Siberia megaproject in May 2014, only two months after Russia's annexation of Crimea, created the impression that China bankrolled Russia out of the crisis. To assess the veracity of this impression, the authors draw a longer timeline of Russian–Chinese cooperation, examining general economic data as well as Chinese involvement in four concrete energy projects managed by leading Russian energy companies. They find that, in general, deals made from 2014 onward are in line with trends that originated well before the current crisis in Russia's relations with the West, and that Chinese financial contributions to the sector are not as large as they sometimes appear.

Keywords: Russia, Crimea, China, energy, oil, gas, FDI, international affairs, annexation

Suggested Citation

Overland, Indra and Kubayeva, Gulaikhan, Did China Bankroll Russia's Annexation of Crimea? The Role of Sino-Russian Energy Relations (2018). In Helge Blakkisrud and Elana Wilson Rowe (eds) Russia’s Turn to the East: Domestic Policymaking and Regional Cooperation, Cham: Palgrave, pp. 95–118., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3109819

Indra Overland (Contact Author)

NUPI - Norwegian Institute of International Affairs ( email )

Oslo
Norway

NUPI - Norwegian Institute for International Affairs ( email )

Oslo
Norway

Gulaikhan Kubayeva

The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia

Almaty
Kazakhstan

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
47
Abstract Views
437
PlumX Metrics