The drive to have this deposit fill one of two rivalpipelines has put Baku

The drive to have this deposit fill one of two rivalpipelines has put Baku in the middle of a political tug-of-warbetween Moscow and Brussels. The head of Russia's state-run gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM)Alexei Miller told reporters Azerbaijan had promised Russiapriority in buying gas from the second phase of the Shakh Denizdeposit that Europe is counting on to fill its Nabucco pipeline. * Russia to import 0.5 bcm from 2010, more going forward Stocks  |  Russia  |  France * Russia to have priority for Shakh Deniz supplies - Gazprom * Deal is political, threatens Gazprom's profits - analyst (Recasts with analyst comments, quotes, background) By Denis Dyomkin BAKU, June 29 (Reuters) - Russia appeared to pull ahead ofEurope on Monday in the struggle to control energy flows on thecontinent, sealing a gas supply deal with Azerbaijan that couldtorpedo a rival European gas pipeline project. Transportation officials will make the determination onfinal approval (Reporting by John Crawley, editing by Gerald E McCormick) Stocks. The Transportation Department earlier this year grantedprovisional approval to the United and Continental application,pending review of public comments. The proposed agreements also could harm domesticcompetition and raise fares on some routes, Justice Departmentlawyers wrote in public comments.

The DOJ also said Continental, United and the othercarriers have offered "little in the way" of consumer benefitsarising from the alliance. Antitrust immunity would permit carriers to share pricing,scheduling and other information within the Star Alliance. Thatgroup includes US Airways Group Inc (LCC.N), Deutsche LufthansaAG (LHAG.DE), Air Canada (ACa.TO) (ACb.TO), Air China Ltd(601111.SS), Thai Airways International PCL THAI.BK andseveral other carriers. Stocks In a filing late on Friday with the TransportationDepartment, antitrust enforcers said approval is likely to harmcompetition on some international routes, including flightsbetween U.S cities and Canada and China. Justice Departmentopposes broad antitrust immunity for Continental Airlines Inc(CAL.N) to join UAL Corp's (UAUA.O) United Airlines and othermembers of the Star alliance, documents showed.

(Reporting by Gianni Montani; Writing by Ian Simpson; Editingby David Holmes) ($1=.7143 Euro) Italy. WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Developmentforecast last week that Italy's economy, the third-biggest inthe euro zone, would shrink 5.5 percent this year. Bankexecutives contend customers are shunning loans during thedownturn. Difficulties small and mid-sized companies face "come from areal economy that is feeling the effects of the global cycle,while opportunity comes from a banking system that supportsthem", Chief Executive Alessandro Profumo said in an address.

Italy has set up a 10 billion euros to 12 billion bond-basedscheme to bolster banks' capital and to assure financing tosmaller companies. UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank by marketvalue, is among lenders who have lined up for help. UniCredit has issued new financing for small and mid-sizedcompanies worth 4.8 billion euros this year as part of about80,000 requests, the bank said at an event honouring smallercompanies About three-quarters of loan requests were accepted, itsaid. Italy The lending figures come after weeks of criticism by thecentre-right government, which contends Italian banks arefailing to lend to smaller companies which have been hit by therecession. TURIN, Italy, June 29 (Reuters) - Italian bank UniCredit SpA(CRDI.MI) has lent 4.8 billion euros ($6.7 billion) to small andmid-sized companies this year despite the economic downturn, itsaid on Monday.