By Xu Liyu     

    MOSCOW, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia's presidency of the Group of Eight (G8) this year will end with Moscow making a successful thrust of initiatives on the world stage, most notably the discussion of energy security.

    Russia's economic growth has averaged at nearly 7 percent and foreign direct investment has soared over the last few years. When President Vladimir Putin hosted other G8 leaders in his hometown of St Petersburg, Russia had an unprecedented opportunity to showcase its economic rise and deflect criticism against it.

    Energy security became the catchword when Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter and No. 1 in natural gas reserves, chaired the G8, a group of the world's industrialized nations, at a time of sky-high oil and gas prices. Energy security was listed as a top priority, along with education and fighting infectious diseases, for discussion during Russia's first-ever presidency.

    "We stressed that open, transparent, efficient and competitive energy markets are the cornerstone of our common energy security strategy," G8 leaders said in the chair's summary.

    In an action plan to enhance global energy security, the leaders "undertook to reduce barriers to energy investment and trade, making it possible for companies from energy producing and energy consuming countries to invest in and acquire upstream and downstream assets internationally."

    European countries jittered when, at the start of the year, Russia cut off gas to neighboring Ukraine amid a bitter pricing dispute, briefly disrupting supplies to Europe as most of the gas Russia sends to Europe is shipped through pipelines that cross Ukraine.

    The European Union (EU), which depends on Russian supplies for one quarter of its oil and gas needs, has been keen to formulate new principles of energy cooperation with Russia. However, EU leaders have failed so far to persuade Russia to commit to the Energy Charter, a document that regulates transit and investment in the energy sector and allows for greater market competition from foreign companies.

    Russia, while pledging reliable supplies, demanded reciprocal moves for opening up its energy assets to European investors.

    "Russia's desire to take ownership stakes in Europe's gas distribution markets makes perfect sense and is fully legitimate given Russia's energy assets and pipeline capacity," Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said in an article.