WASHINGTON, July 2 (UPI) -- At the height of the Cold War, the West feared the Soviet military. Now, it fears Russian energy companies, and the 800-pound gorilla of them all is Gazprom, Russia's natural gas monopoly, currently the world's third-largest company by capitalization.

Having absorbed capitalism with a rapacity that would make Lenin blush, Gazprom does not intend to rest on its laurels. On June 27 Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told reporters that he intends to make the firm the world's largest company within seven to 10 years, when its capitalization is projected to reach $1 trillion.

While braggadocio towards foreigners is a core element of the Russian character, if the past is anything to go by, Miller could well achieve his goal. To begin with, Gazprom either has direct control of or access to an astounding nearly 30 trillion cubic meters of hydrocarbon reserves, a third of global natural gas reserves. Gazprom currently extracts 550 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually and exports around 150 billion cubic meters to 28 countries in Europe and the former Soviet Union.

The company's fiscal reserves are equally impressive, as since 2000 its capitalization has increased a staggering 4,600 percent and its market capitalization currently stands at $362 billion. Add to that the fact that Dmitry Medvedev, inaugurated on May 7 as Russia's third post-Soviet president, was CEO of Gazprom from 2000 to 2002, and you have a symbiotic executive branch-corporate relationship that Wall Street magnates can only dream of.

Any doubts about Medvedev's intentions towards his former employer were dispelled during a May 27 meeting that he held with Gazprom's board of directors. Medvedev called Gazprom "not only the flagship of the Russian economy but also a major force in the world." He lauded former colleagues' tireless efforts, observing that nearly 20 percent of the Russian Federation's budgetary income now comes from Gazprom's revenues before adding, "We have a lot of work ahead of us. We must move forward. We must work at developing domestic and foreign markets and continue with the gasification of the regions."