Publicat pe 17/11/2022

Bucharest, November 17, 2022: The Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR), in partnership with EY Romania and the Electric Energy Producers Association (HENRO), organized, on November 17, the international forum entitled “Romania’s role in ensuring security energy of Europe”. The event had as its central theme the problem of energy security from Romania’s perspective and focused on identifying concrete solutions.

Current concerns related to the energy security of the European Union (EU) foreground national and European efforts to ensure safe, affordable and sustainable energy, both by diversifying natural gas suppliers and sources of electricity producers, and by using technologies state-of-the-art and the implementation of energy efficiency solutions.

“Over time, the European Commission has talked about several projects regarding the alternative to Russian gas. It was only talked about, because, for various reasons, they were never put into practice. In 2008, for example, the AGRI project (Azerbaijan — Georgia — Romania Interconnector) was discussed, which proposed the transport of natural gas from the Caspian region, on the territory of Azerbaijan and Georgia, and the crossing of the Black Sea with the help of methane carriers. It was then considered that there is a dictatorship in Turkmenistan, as if the most authentic democracy reigned in Russia. The problem is that by abandoning these projects, the gas storage infrastructure has not been completed either, and at the moment Europe is not prepared at all from this point of view. There are obviously alternatives to Russian gas. There are functional markets such as those of Qatar, Algeria, Trinidad Tobago, the USA or Norway. We are all waiting to see Mrs. Ursula Von der Leyen sign contracts with one of these countries at full speed. You can’t help but create alternatives knowing they exist. It remains to be seen if Europe really wants to get rid of Russian gas or if these are just simple statements”, said the president of the CCIR, Mr. Mihai Daraban.

“The European Commission’s Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union has reconfirmed the importance of energy security by including it as the first of the five pillars underpinning the Energy Union. In the same document, the European Commission presented the vision that should materialize through an integrated energy system at European level, based on competition and free movement of energy across borders. Thus, two strategic directions are outlined. On the one hand, ensuring energy security at the national level, with investment projects such as increasing nuclear energy capacities, but also diversifying the energy mix. On the other hand, strengthening Romania’s role as a contributor to ensuring regional energy security. Specifically for the gas market, Romania is advantaged by its geographical position in the Black Sea basin and the potential of hydrocarbons in the offshore area. At the same time, however, the interconnection of the national gas transport system with that of the neighboring countries is essential, and hence the importance of the development of the national transport system on the BRUA corridor and the development on the national territory of the Southern Corridor to ensure the interconnection with the gas resources of the Caspian Basin , from the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East”, said Ms. Georgiana Iancu, Partner, Indirect Tax Coordinator, EY Romania.