pipeline gas will always be cheaper, and gazprom is increasing. gazprom's reports, especially for the past few months. sales are rising. i am certain this will be the case in the future. why? because in the near future, despite the development of alternative energy, when you look at the economic elements and environmental demands, when there is no other source of primary energy in the world other than natural gas. well, perhaps there is nuclear energy, but there -- country that is obviously the world leader in gas reserves, but our country, the russian federation, and gazprom carries out all the functions it has been assigned, that the management has been assigned. of course there are issues and there are problems. we see them. i know that gazprom's management is taking a strawberry steps to resolve these issues, and that -- to do it well, poorly, that is another question. many criticize us. they say that it needs to be more flexible. -- the gasuld have business is very consistent. it is not even like trading oil. business in transportation. this

gazprom valuation -- this absolutely does not worry us. what gazprom is worth and will be worth in the coming years, despite for example the development of sarin gas -- shale gas in the united states and other regions of the world. pipeline gas will always be cheaper in gazprom is increasing its exports. look at gazprom's reports, especially for the past few months. sales are rising. i am certain this will be case in the teacher. why? because in the near future, development of alternative energy, when you look at the environmental demand, there is tosource other than natural us. as well, perhaps there is nuclear energy but there are efficiencies here and there are opponents of nuclear energy. country, the russian federation. carries all the functions it has been assigned. that the management has been a sign. of course there are issues and problems, we see them. but i know the gazprom manager is resolving these issues and the interests on the world market. , fully, that well is another question. many say it needed to be more flexible. chang

the question about gazprom, the value of it has gone down.e tried to defend it and i said he would be unlikely to keep a general that lost 4/5 of his army. and he did smirk a little bit. and went on talking. he has some degree of -- he likes combat, putin. you think of the obvious things. that is part of his personality. david: what is your sense of how he regards the united states? there was a moment he talked about the relationship between john kerry and sergei lavrov, his foreign minister. they see each other fairly often. the dialogue seems very robust. diplomatically, how strong is the relationship? john: he has a sense that he remembers the world when russia met america. for all the things he says about america, all the dismissals he has, it is still the core of the way he would like the world to be. it is a little bit like a jilted spouse or a jilted lover. carol: getting the perfect image to capture vladimir putin's conversation with bloomberg was the job with creative director robert vargas. david: we talked about the coverage. let's

you look at, i use gazprom. it used to be in the top 10 in the world. it is now 196 i think. you look at the market capitalization, it has lost 4/5 of its value. charlie: at the same time, he has fired some of his cronies. john: he has fired political cronies. if you have a general that lost 4/5 of his army, you would not keep him in power. there was a rise of a slightly younger guard. people who in some cases were his personal bodyguards before. they have begun to get jobs like running provinces. charlie: are these former kgb people? john: some of them, yes. these tend to be people who have only known the power of proof. kgb people were the original lot who supported gorbachev. they saw themselves as glamorous foreign agents and tended to look down on putin. they saw him as a nasty secret policeman from dresden, not a glamorous foreign figure. now there was a generation of people who are in their 30's who pretty much have only known putin as a power. charlie: what kind of relationship did he have with obama? john: i didn't ask him directly. they are not friendly. you and i h