Pavlo Sultanskyi, Director, Economic Cooperation Department, MFA of Ukraine

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me not go deep into details and just outline some international tendencies that may significantly influence international cooperation in energy field.

First of all, as other speakers have already mentioned, we are facing complicated international relations and new challenges that were unknown to the mankind before. The challenges need quick reaction via establishing new global structures and involving global resources for overcoming these difficulties.

Today, we have neither global structures, nor global resources. Insecurity will be deepening because of the breakdown of the existing system of international relations. The old international relations system still functions, however, it needs to be fundamentally modernized or its basing principles have to be changed. Tensions between states aggravate, significance of political factor of business energy projects increases, and artificial barriers are established.

In spite of processes of globalization, in particular, in economic field, which provided for gradual decrease of the role of state as a hand regulator of processes in energy sector as well, political risks have not lessened. On the contrary, opposite tendencies obviously take place. Under the conditions of economic and financial crises, the role of state as anti-crises manager will further be strengthened that will also have great impact on international investment policy.

On international level, lack of common approach to the problem of passing the fossil fuel “production peak” does not aid search for common interests between energy consumers and energy producers. Nationalization of the energy resources by the producer-states and technological egoism of the consumer countries are casting doubts on production growth and unobstructed transit of energy resources. The third constituent which is a transit constituent cannot exist without the two mentioned components, and as a result, the transit countries including Ukraine will suffer damages.

Resource nationalism leads to transformation of national governments’ relations with international companies operating on producer countries’ territories; technological egoism does not solve the problem of secure energy supply. Thus, both tendencies will worsen the existent world problems, establishing additional barriers for business development in energy field and decreasing the states’ energy security level.

Obviously, in this situation the world needs more stability, openness, decreasing political and economical risks, and stirring up cooperation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is confident that today the dialogue between all the participants of the energy chain – producer countries, transit countries and consumer countries – is needed. Special political consultations on energy issues organized by the interested countries on external policy institutions level (involving experts) may serve as a prologue to the dialogue.

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