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The long arm of Washington extends to the distribution circuit. A week ago, Vienna Austria, which is based there, announced a sponsorship deal with the Austrian European subsidiary of the Russian oil giant Lukoil. It wasn’t a very large amount – rumored to be 50,000 euros – but the excitement was still great. Lukoil is the third largest Russian energy company after Gazprom and Rosneft. Even though the company is privately owned, the Kremlin earns money from Lukoil’s oil revenues in the form of taxes.
