Even before he became president, Putin wrote a dissertation describing how Russia should use its energy resources to become a superpower once again. This plan is now being put into affect. "Gazprom is the new foreign ministry of Russia", jokes political commentator Sergei Strokan. The chairman of Gazprom is also Deputy Prime Minister and Putin's special advisor. Countries like Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, which have tried to break away from the Kremlin's influence, have all experienced dramatic price increases from Gazprom. But what shocked them most was that the new prices were announced not by Gazprom but by Putin. "When a president sets the price of gas, it is no longer business. It's politics", complains Ukrainian MP Mykola Martinenko. There are concerns that Russia's new pipeline, which goes directly from Russia to Germany, will leave Europe more dependent on Russian gas. As Strokan states: "If Europe really accepts the concept of the North European Gas Pipeline then of course it will be dependence."