In 2016 Russian general Leonid Ivashov on Russian state TV explained why Russia had to intervene in Syria for the sake of "Gazprom survival", because Qatar tried to start construct a gas pipeline through Syria and Turkey into European Union, which would reduce Russia's share in gas sales. Another expert Boris Nadezhdin asks right away: "so we entered the Syrian conflict to ensure demand for Gazprom?" to which Ivashov answers "yes, for our survival". Of course, the idea that Russia's economy could be finally based on anything else than raw hydrocarbons exports, as promised by Putin 20 years ago, never crossed the minds of the experts in the studio.