Hizbollah

• In third place is Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller, who this week signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Company in Tehran. The move comes just days after the French oil company Total announced it would postpone future investment in an Iranian gas exploration project, because of political tensions.  With Western energy companies reluctant to involve themselves in Iran, Gazprom is looking to seize any opportunity to secure more sources of hydrocarbons.

• EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding comes second.  Reding announced plans this week for legislation that will force EU mobile telephone operators to slash their ‘roaming’ rates for text messages sent abroad. Reding had previously given the mobile phone industry until July 1 to the cut the charges, which are up to ten times higher than for regular texts.  The move will be popular with consumers, and along last week’s Renewed Social Chapter it represents an attempt by the European Commission to demonstrate the tangible benefits of EU membership, to Europe’s otherwise sceptical populations.

• Hizbollah wins this week’s masterstroke. The Lebanese militant group has bolstered its position in Lebanon and the wider region following this week’s prisoner exchange with Israel.  The deal saw Israel release five Lebanese prisoners -- including high-profile militant Samir Kantar -- in exchange for the remains of Israeli reservists captured in a cross-border raid in 2006.  The macabre swap will also see Israel exhume and return the bodies of almost 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters killed on Israeli land in recent years.  The UN-brokered deal has been seen as victory for Hizbollah, and the five returning prisoners met with a hero’s reception.