Russian natural gas behemoth Gazprom announced July 9 that the price at which Russia sells natural gas to Europe will quickly rise to $500 per thousand cubic meters (tcm). It attributed the staggeringly high price on a hike in prices from Central Asia, which supplies some of the natural gas Russia sends to Europe. The high prices will most likely cripple many European consumers and continue the flow of cash going to Moscow, but the rise in prices from Central Asian states like Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan will give those countries their own cash — and lots of it — for the first time in their histories. Russia has continually raised natural gas prices to Europe (which depends on Russia for one-quarter of its natural gas) from $113 per tcm in 2003 to approximately $430 per tcm currently.