The policy conclusions of the report note that Kazakhstan has considerably improved its business climate over the past several years and that these actions resulted in a significant inflow of foreign direct investments. The report underlines that Kazakhstan has significantly upgraded the oil and gas pipelines network throughout the region to promote international trade and cooperation in the energy sector.
The first In-depth energy efficiency review of the Republic of Belarus was completed in September 2012 by a team of experts from Armenia, Austria and Sweden, led by a representative of Kazakhstan and supported by the Energy Charter Secretariat.
The Energy Charter Treaty provides a multilateral legal framework towards the promotion and protection of energy investments. This book is devoted to a highly significant concept in this field - expropriation, which is examined through the prism of the Energy Charter Treaty while taking into consideration other international agreements, such as bilateral investment treaties, to which ECT member countries are party.
Tariffs for the utilisation of gas transmission pipelines are an essential factor determining the openness of international gas markets. The availability of interconnections and economically acceptable transportation costs are a condition for natural gas reaching consumer markets. With the dependence of major consuming countries on imported natural gas increasing - with the exception of countries that can rely on significant own reserves of unconventional gas - international trade in natural gas is expected to grow over the next decades.
This in-depth review of energy efficiency policies of Bosnia and Herzegovina was carried out in 2011, following a regular review report submitted by the Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities in 2008.
Following the introduction of competition in network energy industries of some Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty, in addition to investment protection challenges, foreign investors may today face barriers to competition arising out of uncommon norms and standards, exemptions and arbitrary public procurement policy decisions. In order to overcome such barriers to competition in network energy industries, the energy sector should be persuaded to adopt continuous and consistent levels of international cooperation on issues of competition.
Pipelines play a significant role in the international crude oil and oil product logistics. They allow exploiting remote oil fields and are a much cheaper and more convenient means of oil and oil product transportation than railways. Pipelines are especially relevant for territories with no or limited access to the sea. Thanks to the construction of pipelines, the last two decades have seen the emergence of new suppliers on the world oil market. For the latter, secure and economical transit through third countries in order to access world markets is of critical importance.
The current in-depth review of Georgia's energy efficiency policies was carried out in 2010, following the previous review in 2005. The in-depth review report was discussed and approved by the PEEREA Working Group in 2011.
New pipelines for the export of natural gas are important for increasing the security of energy supply from Azerbaijan to the neighbouring countries as well as to global markets. In order to stimulate further the development of the Azeri energy market it was advised to consider the establishment of an independent state agency to regulate the energy sector in a fair, transparent and predictable manner.
The Energy Charter Conference concluded that Moldova had considerably improved the business climate and was making progress in the development of its energy sector legislation and market reforms aimed at establishing an open and competitive energy market and a level playing field for local and foreign investors.
New extensions of electricity and gas interconnections would contribute to the security of energy supply in Poland and in the neighbouring countries. In the long term, unconventional gas is expected to play a major role here.
This report is a follow-up to the Secretariat's 2007 publication "Putting a Price on Energy: International Pricing Mechanisms for Oil and Gas." It provides an update of Chapter 3 on Oil Pricing. In particular, it looks at some of the key events which shaped the world economy over the past four years and which have led to a never seen before oil price peak and subsequent collapse.
An in-depth review of energy efficiency policies of Mongolia was carried out in 2010. In fulfilling its commitments under the PEEREA, initially Mongolia has presented a regular review of its energy efficiency policies in 2003. The current in-depth review is the first for the country.
Kyrgyzstan is a small Central Asian country with a mountainous landscape and many rivers which determine its high hydropower potential. The country's key strategy in developing its energy sector is focused on hydro amounting to 142 kWh bln. Currently, only up to 10% of Kyrgyzstan's hydropower resources are utilised.
This follow-up report, published in 2011, is the second for the country and its preparation was motivated inter alia by the need to reflect all relevant changes that have taken place in the country since 2002. The document covers mainly the period of 2002-2009 and is based on the latest publicly available data for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
