Dr. Rusnák pointed out that over time the EU and Russia began to increasingly use the platform of the Energy Charter for dealing with bilateral matters of political nature for which the Energy Charter hadn't been intended. This effectively bilateral approach and misuse of the Charter platform were hindering the natural evolution of the Energy Charter Process. The Secretary General called on the EU and Russia to turn to other specialised fora for resolving bilateral issues and to continue using the Charter with all other member countries as it had been designed: a multilateral instrument for achieving open and efficient energy markets, sustainable development and energy security.
This return to essentials would be one of the main components of the ongoing process of modernising the Energy Charter. The modernisation process also includes updating the Charter Process to better serve the interests of its constituency, now expanding to new global regions, such as MENA and Southeast Asia, and to reflect the new challenges facing the world of energy today.
Dr. Rusnák also highlighted that the Energy Charter was not just a general international agreement, but a concrete instrument serving the interests of all involved parties, including the energy industry. He provided an overview of the investment protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty and gave specific examples of the Energy Charter Process being used for effective information exchange between governments and energy companies. One such example was the recently held workshop, which focused on contractual issues related to gas trade. This event was co-organised with the Hungarian Ministry of National Development and gave an opportunity to government officials and experts of leading energy companies to exchange views on such issues as public and private principles of gas trade, pricing mechanisms, role and place of long-term contracts and evolution of gas hub trading.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Secretary General Rusnák met with Mr. Valery Yazev, President of the Russian Gas Society and Deputy of Russia's State Duma. Dr. Rusnák and Mr. Yazev discussed the recent developments within the Energy Charter Process and the ongoing Energy Charter modernisation.