If 2020 was anything but beautiful, it was its crystal clarity: everything finally fell into place, the masks were torn off, the villains entered the arena and bow in all directions.

Heroes, however, have not yet been outlined, but they must appear and, most likely, in the very near future: these are the laws of the genre.

The force of action is always equal to the force of reaction, nature abhors emptiness, the very state of affairs requires balancing.

These are the laws of the universe in the broadest sense.

What you need to understand.

Nord Stream 2 is now a problem for Germany, not Russia.

They need him much more than we do.

Expensive energy has an extremely negative impact on the rate of economic growth.

According to the IMF, over the past nine years, the German economy has grown by only 16.5% (GDP in constant prices, 2019/2010), while US GDP in real prices has increased by 22% over this period, and UK GDP by 18 %, China showed growth by 88%, and India - by 85%.

Guess which country has the most expensive electricity?

That's right, in Germany.

After the planned closure of all nuclear power plants in the Federal Republic of Germany, the problem with energy supply will significantly worsen, and the cost will rise sharply.

Energy will become even more expensive if Germany does not secure a reliable supply of pipeline gas, which by definition will always be cheaper than liquefied gas.

So it will be a matter of survival, not just GDP growth.

The economic results of 2020 make it possible to say with confidence that the recovery of the world economy after the coronavirus recession will occur mainly at the expense of China and India.

It is already obvious that China will only increase gas supplies from Russia.

Over the next decade, the export of blue fuel to the Celestial Empire is likely to double.

Thus, Gazprom can easily compensate for any decline in exports to Europe by significantly increasing supplies to the Asian region.

We should not forget about domestic consumption - gasification is going on very actively.

Yes, and in the liquefied gas market, Russia is gradually gaining ground.

According to experts, Gazprom's capital expenditures on Nord Stream have long been taken into account in the company's market capitalization.

Therefore, the problem of Nord Stream 2 is already a corporate problem of German Uniper and Wintershall, Austrian OMV, French Engie and British-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell and other foreign shareholders of JV-2. 

The coming to power of the Democrats in the United States means not only a change in priorities in the American economy and a return to the post-industrial model, where 80% of GDP is created by the service sector, and industrial production is still concentrated in Asia, but also an inevitable decrease in interest in shale oil and gas projects in the territory of the United States itself.

Democrats are about something else, they are not very interested in the real economy.

Thus, now the US pressure on the supply of pipeline gas from Russia to Europe will mean not so much restraining the Russian economy as lobbying the interests of their ally Qatar as the main supplier of liquefied gas to the world market, as well as slowing down Germany as the locomotive of the European economy. 

And here it turns out that it is now the task of the German lobbyists - to settle the issues of Nord Stream 2 with the new American administration.

Europe is quite capable of defending Nord Stream 2 - albeit at the cost of serious concessions to the United States in other areas and further active participation in the sanctions pressure on Russia.

But new sanctions are more likely to be introduced in the political sphere than in the economic one.

The current restrictions are already hitting the United States seriously.

Considering the declared desire of the new American administration to restore transatlantic cooperation and restart globalization, the European Union may well bargain for positions that are priority for supporting their economies.

So for Russia in the political sense, next year, little will change, the trends are clear.

Actually, there were no illusions on this score for a long time.

There will be a variety of creaks, patients of Berlin clinics and, possibly, new heroes of the new episodes of this already incapable of surprising series.

They will entertain us and at the same time distract attention from the really important issues of international politics.

This is national security in strategic areas: real production, own pharmaceuticals, food, information and digital independence.

In a word, everything that together constitutes the sovereignty of any independent state.

Here, of course, we still have to work and work.

But the road will be mastered by the one walking, otherwise there is nothing.

The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.