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Training Programme - 6-8 May 2013: Speakers' Biographies

Amb. William Ramsay

William Ramsay

Amb. William Ramsay has pursued a long and renowned career in resource economics and geopolitics. He has worked for several decades as an American diplomat and senior State Department official. During the period 1970-1998 his foreign postings for the United States Department of State included: Kinshasa, Congo; Brussels, the European Union; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and finally as Ambassador Plenipotentiary in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. Amb. Ramsay was also Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in Washington DC for a period of six years, responsible for energy, strategic commodities, agricultural trade policy, as well as economic and foreign policy sanctions.

Amb. Ramsay presently teaches an academic course entitled "The Diplomacy of Energy" at Sciences-Po in Paris. Prior to his current lecturing activity, he was Director of the Energy Centre at the French Institute for International Relations (Ifri). He was Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris for 10 years prior to the Directorship at Ifri. Amb. Ramsay has an MBA from Michigan State University and a Masters in Commodity Economics and Trade from the Leland Stanford University in California. He is Commandeur of the Congolese Ordre de Merite and Chevalier of the French Legion d'Honneur.

Mr. Victor Zhikai Gao

Viktor Zhikai Gao

Mr. Victor Zhikai Gao is Executive Director and Chairman of the International Committee of the Beijing Private Equity Association, Director of China National Association of International Studies, and Vice-Chairman of Sino Europe United Investment Corporation. Mr. Gao is also member of the Beijing Energy Club. Mr. Gao has extensive experience in government, diplomacy, securities regulation, legal, investment banking, private equity, corporate management and media. Mr. Gao was Deng Xiaoping's English interpreter in the 1980s. Mr. Gao served as the China Policy Adviser at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in 1999 and 2000. His prior investment banking experience included senior positions with Morgan Stanley and CICC and Daiwa Securities. Mr. Gao's corporate management experience included senior positions CNOOC Limited where he was Senior Vice-President, General Counsel, Company Secretary, Member of the Investment Committee, and Director of CNOOC International.

Mr. Gao holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.A. in International Relations from the Political Science Department of Yale Graduate School, an M.A. in English from Beijing University of Foreign Studies, and a B.A. in English from Suzhou University. Mr. Gao frequently published articles in international journals and has been regularly interviewed by mainstream Chinese and international media, including BBC, CNN and CCTV.

Amb Urban RUSNÁK – Secretary General, Energy Charter Secretariat

Urban Rusnák

Amb Urban Rusnák became Secretary General of the Energy Charter Secretariat in January 2012.

Prior to his appointment with the Energy Charter Secretariat, Amb Rusnák worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic and was the Leader of the Project for Slovakia's External Energy Security. Before that, he was Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Ukraine (2005-2009), Head of the MFA Political Analysis Division (2003-2005), Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Turkey (1994-1998) and MFA Desk Officer for South Caucasus, Central Asia, CIS and South East Europe. He also held the position of Executive Director of the International Visegrad Fund in Bratislava (2000-2003) and Director of the Slovak Institute for International Studies (1999-2000). Additionally, Amb. Rusnák was a Lecturer at the Kiev Slavonic University (2005-2009) and at the International Relations Faculty of the Economic University in Bratislava (2000-2003). He was also Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Slovak Institute for International Studies (2000-2003), Editor in Chief for the MFA International Issues Journal (1998-1999) and is the author of several articles on international relations, energy security, development assistance and Caspian oil and gas issues.

Amb. Jan-Meinte Postma

Jan-Meinte Postma

Amb. Jan-Meinte Postma was born on 7 December 1947 in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. Amb. Postma studied Social Sciences, Philosophy and Economics at the Universities of Groningen and Rotterdam. He started working for the United Nations with postings in Vienna, Austria, and Lima, Peru. In 1980 he joined the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs holding various positions in the field of international economic relations. In 1997 Amb. Postma joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked in the capacity of Minister Plenipotentiary, first in Brussels at the Netherlands Mission to the European Union and as of 2002 at the Netherlands Mission in Geneva responsible for the World Trade Organisation. Amb. Postma was the Netherlands Energy Envoy from September 2007 until December 2012.

Mr. Wim Groenendijk

Wim Groenendijk

Mr. Wim Groenendijk joined Gasunie in 2007 and is responsible for International Affairs and Regulation. He is Vice-President and member of the Board of Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) and the President of Gas LNG Europe. He also served as a member of the ENTSOG Board during its first two years. Before 2007 Mr. Groenendijk worked for Shell International in various roles and locations.

Mr. Dirk Buschle

Dirk Buschle

Mr. Dirk Buschle has been Legal Counsel of the Energy Community Secretariat since 2007 and its Deputy Director since 2011. Prior to his current position, he was Head of Cabinet of the President of the Court of Justice of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in Luxembourg. Mr. Buschle graduated from Constance University, Germany, and earned his Ph.D. at St. Gallen University in Switzerland. He is Deputy Director of that University’s Institute for European and International Business Law. Mr. Buschle has published widely in different areas of European Law, speaks regularly at conferences and has lectured at Universities of Reykjavik, Constance and St. Gallen as visiting professor. He co-chairs the annual St. Gallen International Energy Forum as well as the Vienna Energy Law Forum.

Ms. Ana Stanić

Ana Stanić

Ms. Ana Stanić is an English Solicitor Advocate and Honorary Lecturer at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee. She is the founder of E&A Law Limited, an innovative law firm which combines energy specialism with expertise in EU law, international law and arbitration. Ms. Stanić has advised states and energy companies regarding concession agreements to construct large energy infrastructure, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and host government agreements to construct pipelines. She regularly acts as counsel in investment treaty and commercial arbitrations. Ms. Stanić has also appeared before the European Court of Justice and advises on issues of EU law and international law. She has a LLM from Cambridge University, UK, and an LLB and B. Commerce (Finance and Banking) from the University of New South Wales, Australia. Prior to private practice, Ms. Stanić worked for the Slovenian Ministry of Economic Relations and Development and the Central Bank where she inter alia negotiated bilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements.

Ms. Stanić is recommended as a leading lawyer in Energy and Energy Disputes by Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. Besides English, she speaks Slovenian, Bosnian/Croat/Serbian, Italian and understands Russian and French.

Prof. Adnan Amkhan Bayno

Adnan Amkhan Bayno

Prof. Adnan Amkhan Bayno, a Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, is a highly experienced international lawyer and international arbitration practitioner, both as counsel and arbitrator. He has developed a reputation for his extensive knowledge and experience in the fields of international law, international energy law, the Energy Charter Treaty and Middle Eastern investment and commercial laws.

Prof. Amkhan served as Head of the Legal Affairs Department of the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels in 2000-2004, during which time he was heavily involved in the negotiation of the Transit Protocol and the drafting of Model Agreements for cross-border oil and gas projects. Before and after his time at the Energy Charter Secretariat, Prof. Amkhan has advised governments, international organisations, multinational corporations and private clients on a wide range of issues relating to international law, energy law, international investment law, international commercial arbitration, the Energy Charter Treaty, and Middle Eastern and Islamic laws.

Prof. Amkhan has given expert legal opinions before domestic and international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the International Chamber of Commerce and the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, he was a member of an international legal team that advised the Government of Bahrain on the implementation of BICI's recommendations. In addition to his practice, Prof. Amkhan has extensive academic experience: he has taught and supervised postgraduate students in a range of courses including energy security, international law, international economic law, international and European energy law, international investment and commercial arbitration, and the commercial laws of the Middle East.

Mr. Leonard Hawkes

Leonard Hawkes

Mr. Leonard Hawkes has practiced international law in Brussels since 1984. Prior to joining DBB Law he was European Counsel in Brussels and London to LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae from 1995 to 2003; Brussels Partner of S.J. Berwin & Co. from 1990 to 1994; and Partner in Stanbrook and Hooper from 1984 to 1989. He is Of Counsel to DBB Law. Mr. Hawkes specialises in energy law and regulation and international trade. He also published extensively on international energy issues.

Mr Howard CHASE - Director, Government Affairs, Dow Europe, Zurich

Howard Chase

Mr. Howard Chase was appointed Director of Government Affairs for The Dow Chemical Company in Europe on 1 June 2012.

Mr. Chase joined Dow after a long career with BP, where he was most recently Director of European Government Affairs based in Brussels. He previously held senior government affairs posts for BP in Washington DC and Moscow and worked as a political adviser, commercial manager and plant and project engineer in many locations worldwide. Howard graduated in engineering from the University of Cambridge and has completed management studies programmes in the UK and at Harvard Business School. He is based in Horgen, Switzerland and is a member of the Dow Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) leadership team.

Amongst various external and industry roles, Mr. Chase is Chairman of the Industry Advisory Panel of the Energy Charter, Chairman of the European Risk Forum and was previously a Sherpa to the European Commission High-Level Group on Competitiveness, Energy and the Environment.

Mr. Alexander Naumov

Alexander Naumov

Mr. Alexander Naumov is a macro economist at BP Group Economics Team, BP plc. His responsibilities include analysis of global macroeconomic trends, short- and long-term market forecasts and compilation and analysis of energy and macroeconomic data for the BP Statistical Review of World Energy and the BP Energy Outlook 2030. Before joining BP Mr. Naumov worked in academic research and in economic and energy consulting. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh and a doctorate in Economics from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh).

Mr. César Ortiz Sotelo

César Ortiz Sotelo

Mr. César Ortiz Sotelo is Deputy Director of GDF SUEZ International Affairs Department since September 2008. He has 30 years of experience in energy, utilities and infrastructure with knowledge and practice of international organisations coupled with a global track record.

Prior to his current position Mr. Ortiz was based in Lima, Peru. Since October 2004 he first served as Deputy CEO of Cálidda, the gas distribution company in Lima, and then as Senior Vice-President of GDF SUEZ Energy International responsible for business development in the Andean countries. Mr. Ortiz was a Board member of several local affiliates. He was Senior Vice-President of GDF SUEZ Energy International within the Business Development Oversight Department based in Brussels. His first position within GDF SUEZ was in 1997 as Director of Electricity of Elyo, an Energy Services affiliate of Suez in Paris.

Before joining GDF SUEZ, Mr. Ortiz worked for major international companies such as Alstom and Shell in France, UK, The Netherlands, Japan and Brunei. Mr. Ortiz holds an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau) and an Engineering Degree from the University of Glasgow, UK.

Dr. Andrei V. Belyi

Andrei V. Belyi

Dr. Andrei V. Belyi is a senior researcher at the University of Tartu (Estonia), Centre for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS) and a visiting honorary lecturer at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee. He coordinates Jean Monnet modules on energy and environment at the University of Tartu. He also regularly teaches at the Global Energy Programme of the Warwick Business School. Dr. Belyi has been a regular guest lecturer in Aberdeen, Adelaide, Brussels and Cagliari. He is also a regular participant in Chatham House seminars on EU-Russia energy relations. Dr. Belyi is widely published, with a particular focus on topics such as the EU’s external energy policy, EU-Russia energy relations, Russia’s energy policy dynamics and international energy governance, including the Energy Charter Process.

Among his most recent publications is a co-authored book on the dynamics of energy governance in Europe and Russia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and an article on the EU’s missed role in international governance (Journal for European Integration, April 2012). In addition, Dr. Belyi is a Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal for World Energy Law and Business (Oxford University Press). He is a co-founder of an international academic network on Political Economy of Energy in Europe and Russia for whom he has recently organised conferences in Moscow, Perm (Russia) and Warwick (UK).

Dr. Belyi has over a decade of experience of providing policy advice for EU institutions, Russian governmental agencies, companies and private firms. He has also completed a consultancy assignment within the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels. Dr. Belyi graduated in international relations (international law) from the Free University of Brussels (ULB), where he also defended his PhD on the energy security dimension of EU-Russia relations.

Mr. Aad van Bohemen

Aad van Bohemen

Mr. Aad van Bohemen is Energy Envoy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, and Manager of International Affairs of the Energy Academy Europe. In 2006-2012 he was head of the Emergency Policy Division of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, with the responsibility of assuring that the IEA and its member countries stand ready to react to severe oil and/or gas supply disruptions, and to coordinate IEA collective actions during such disruptions.

Before coming to the IEA, Mr. van Bohemen held several posts at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands, where he worked on energy policy for six years, notably, the liberalisation of electricity and gas markets and oil market-related issues, including international relations and oil crisis management. Mr. van Bohemen was project manager for the International Energy Forum (IEF) in Amsterdam in 2004, and he was responsible for establishing the IEF Secretariat in Riyadh, as Chairman of the Secretariat’s Executive Board. At that time he was also Chairman of the Board of COVA, the Dutch Oil Stockholding Agency. Mr. van Bohemen earned his Masters in Macro Economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He is married and has four children.

Mr. Filippo Gamba

Filippo Gamba

Mr. Filippo Gamba is Director for Strategy and Development at Counterpoint, a research and advisory group focused on the social and cultural drivers of risk and their impact on the business and policy environment. Mr. Gamba also serves as Senior Adviser to Global Resources Corporation, a boutique investment group specialising in energy and national resources with a particular focus on the Eurasian region. From 2007 to 2012, he worked in Control Risks Group’s political risk department, where he was responsible for the company’s political risk retainer services.

Before joining Control Risks, Mr. Gamba was a consultant at Oxford Analytica where he worked with public and private sector clients on projects related to global economic, strategic and political trends. He was also responsible for the firm’s geo-political early warning system. Mr. Gamba started his career in Brussels at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and at the External Relations Directorate General of the European Commission. He was a Fulbright scholar at SAIS-Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where he obtained an MA in International Relations specialising in International Economics and American Foreign Policy. He also obtained a Masters in International and European Studies from the University of Bologna, Italy, and a BA in Political Science from the Luiss Guido Carli University, Rome.

Dr. Rafael Leal-Arcas

Rafael Leal-Arcas

Dr. Rafael Leal-Arcas is Reader in Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies of Queen Mary University of London (UK). He teaches, and is the convenor of, the courses on International Economic Law and External Relations Law of the European Union in the LLM programme. In 2011-2013, he served as a Marie Curie COFIT Senior Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute (University of Bern).

Dr. Leal-Arcas is the author of the books ‘Climate Change and International Trade’ (Edward Elgar, 2013), ‘International Trade and Investment Law: Multilateral, Regional and Bilateral Governance’ (Edward Elgar, 2010) and ‘Theory and Practice of EC External Trade Law and Policy’ (Cameron May, 2008). He has authored more than 90 scholarly publications on international trade and WTO law, international environmental law, EU law, international investment law and their interaction. These publications were released in American and European law reviews such as the Columbia Journal of European Law, Fordham International Law Journal, Chicago Journal of International Law, Legal Issues of Economic Integration, European Foreign Affairs Review, and Journal of World Energy Law and Business (Oxford University Press).

Dr. Leal-Arcas was a Global Research Fellow at New York University School of Law (Hauser Global Law School Programme), Visiting Fellow at the World Trade Institute, Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Centre, Tillar House Resident Fellow at the American Society of International Law, Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School and Fellow at the Real Colegio Complutense (Harvard University), Emile Noël Doctoral Fellow at New York University School of Law, Fellow at the Australian National University, and Visiting Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. Dr. Leal-Arcas completed his graduate legal education at Stanford Law School, Columbia Law School, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the European University Institute (Florence, Italy).

Mr. Jeffery Piper

Jeffery Piper

Mr. Jeffery Piper currently works in the International Relations unit of the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission. He is the desk officer for the United States and Canada, and also handles certain aspects of energy relations with Russia and Ukraine, as well as general external energy security issues.

Mr. Piper is a graduate of Leeds University in the UK where he studied International History and Politics. Following twelve years in the private sector in the UK, he joined the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission in 1991 where he handled coal market and state aid issues. In 1998 and 1999 he worked at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris on international coal issues. Upon his return to the European Commission, he worked briefly on coal issues before transferring to deal with maritime policy issues in the newly merged Directorate General for Energy and Transport. In January 2001 Mr. Piper was reassigned to work as the assistant to the European Commission's coordinator on developing the newly-launched EU-Russia Energy Dialogue. In 2004 his work in this context was concentrated on the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue's Thematic Groups on the investments and the infrastructures. He also assisted in the preparation and follow up of the 2005 Memorandum of Understanding on Energy with Ukraine, on energy issues in the context of the regional Baku Initiative (countries of Central Asia, Southern Caucasus, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova) and with China (specifically on the MoU on Carbon Capture and Storage, and on the Joint Declaration on Climate Change).

In 2007 Mr. Piper transferred to the External Relations Directorate General where he worked on the general promotion of an EU external energy policy and, more particularly, on energy relations with the countries of the Eastern ENP, Russia and Central Asia. In September 2010, he transferred back to the Directorate General for Energy. Mr. Piper is the co-author of an article on the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue published in October 2008 in "Pipelines, Politics and Power: The future of EU-Russian Energy Relations" by the Centre for European Reform.

Dr Marat TERTEROV – Research Fellow, Knowledge Centre, Energy Charter Secretariat, Brussels

Marat Terterov

Dr Marat Terterov, who is originally from Odessa, USSR, is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Brussels Energy Club. He received his education in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, and holds a PhD in political science from St. Antony's College, Oxford University (obtained in 2002).

Dr Terterov is known today as a Brussels-based political scientist, who has written widely on the countries of the former USSR and Middle East from the perspective of their geopolitics, domestic security and international relations. His commentaries and rather frank opinions are becoming quite visible in the international media and in frequent public meetings between experts. Dr Terterov gained experience in the energy sphere through several years of work as a conference organiser focusing on the Russian gas industry, and later with the Energy Charter Secretariat. He remains a close follower of developments in the Russian, CIS and Eurasian energy sphere, travelling extensively to participate in conferences and public debates in the region.

He speaks English and Russian fluently, while also being conversational in Egyptian Arabic and having very basic knowledge of French.

Amb Vladimir RAKHMANIN – Deputy Secretary General, Energy Charter Secretariat, Brussels

Vladimir Rakhmanin

Born in Moscow in 1958, Ambassador Vladimir Rakhmanin became Deputy Secretary General of the Energy Charter Secretariat in July 2008. Amb Rakhmanin is Russian by nationality; he completed a Masters diploma in international relations from Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1980.

Amb Rakhmanin enjoyed a distinguished career in Russian civil service, including appointments as the Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry (1998-2000), Chief of Protocol of the President of the Russian Federation (2000-2002), Ambassador of Russia to Ireland (2002-2006). Before becoming Deputy Secretary General, Vladimir Rakhmanin was Ambassador-at-Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, chairing the Working Group on the Mechanism of Peace and Security in Northeast Asia of the Six-Party Talks on Denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. Through his career, Amb Rakhmanin was involved in energy-related issues of national and international (European and Asian) levels, organised and participated in high-level events connected with energy matters.

He speaks Russian, English and Chinese.

Mr Steivan DEFILLA – Director, Energy Charter Secretariat, Brussels

Steivan Defilla

Mr Steivan Defilla (born 1959) is Director at the Energy Charter Secretariat since September 2010. Mr Defilla obtained a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1984 and a Master's degree in Statistics in 2004 at Neuchâtel University, Switzerland. He also holds a Postgraduate Degree in Energy (Federal Polytechnical Institute Lausanne, 1986) and one in Public Administration (Institute for Public Administration Lausanne, 1989).

Prior to his appointment at the Energy Charter Secretariat, Mr Defilla worked for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Switzerland as Senior Energy Adviser, advising in particular on foreign energy policy and on the Swiss electricity sector reform. During that time, Mr Defilla also chaired the Energy Charter Group on Trade in 2000-2004, and was actively involved in the negotiations on the Trade Amendment to the Energy Charter Treaty (entered into force in 2010) and the Transit Protocol. Earlier, he was desk officer for Middle Eastern countries in the Swiss Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs and was among others involved in the accession of Jordan and Oman to the WTO, debt rescheduling at the Paris Club and UN sanctions enforcement against Iraq.

Mr Defilla speaks seven languages and is the author of a book and numerous articles and publications on energy policy. He is married and has two children.

Mr Patrice DREISKI – Senior Expert, Expansion and Outreach, Energy Charter Secretariat, Brussels

Patrice Dreiski

Mr Patrice Dreiski, a French national, took up his duties with the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels in September 2010. He is responsible for the relations with non-member countries in order to enable the expansion of the Energy Charter Process.

Previous to this assignment, Mr Dreiski worked for the economic and environmental dimension of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, where he was responsible for developing economic projects in order to improve and strengthen the economic situation in conflict areas. Mr Dreiski promoted and developed regional cooperation within the OSCE participating states, particularly in Central Asia, Caucasus and Balkans, on matters such as transport, energy, environment and trade relations. In 2002-2006, he was Deputy High Representative for Economic Matters in the Office of the High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr Dreiski was financial counsellor to the French delegation to the OECD. Before that, he held various positions within the French Ministry for Economy and Finance. Mr Dreiski was a member of Cabinet of the Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade. In this capacity, he dealt with industry investments, energy issues and human resources.

Mr Dreiski graduated in Economics and Business Management from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, and in Law from Pantheon University-Paris. Born in 1953, he is married and has one daughter.

Dr. Alejandro Carballo

Alejandro Carballo

Dr. Alejandro Carballo (LLB with Economics, Certificate on international conflicts, LLM, European PhD in international law, Harvard Programme on Negotiation) is Legal Counsel at the Energy Charter Secretariat. Previously, he was a Senior Associate at Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira were he advised states and private clients on a wide range of public international law issues, including the Energy Charter Treaty. Dr. Carballo was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge and lectured public international law at the IE Law School and Universidad Autonoma Madrid. He was a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International law and participated in the working groups of UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (3 ed) and the Hague Conference Principles on Choice of Law in international contracts.

Dr. Matteo Barra

Matteo Barra

Dr. Matteo Barra is an Investment Expert at the Energy Charter Secretariat. He is in charge of monitoring energy policy trends in the Energy Charter constituency and regional cooperation projects in relation to foreign investment, as well as following the developments in international energy investment arbitration. He also provides support to the work of the Energy Charter Investment Group and the Industry Advisory Panel. Prior to joining the Secretariat, Dr. Barra was an associate with an international arbitration team at a large law firm in Geneva. He worked on investment and commercial disputes concerning, among others, the electricity, and gas and oil industry. Dr. Barra advised on and defended cases on public international and EU law issues in connection to foreign investment, expropriation, energy regulation and competition, sovereignty over natural resources, international trade and transportation, and border delimitation. He holds a Ph.D. in International Economic Law (Bocconi, I) and an LL.M. in International Energy Law and Policy (CEPMLP, UK).