Long live fears!

Mikhail Kasyanov entered into an energy dialogue with the European Union

In the dialogue between Russia and the European Union, the topic of energy balance has recently become too acute. Moreover, mutual reproaches have already developed into a sharp verbal spat at the level of the Russian leadership and EU representatives. Apparently, this was one of the reasons for holding the international seminar “Geopolitics of Energy Security. Cooperation between Russia and the EU,” which was held yesterday in Brussels under the auspices of the European Enterprise Institute. It was attended by representatives of the European Commission, members of the European Parliament, public and political figures, and representatives of the business community. Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who began his first European tour as a possible leader of the Russian democratic opposition, also spoke at the meeting.

“Both Russia and the European Union should concentrate their efforts on developing a new international legislative framework that takes into account the interests of both parties, which would contribute to the creation of a non-discriminatory system of supply and transit of energy resources to European markets. The European Union needs to clearly explain its energy policy to avoid misinterpretations and irrational fears,” Mr. Kasyanov said. “The problem of energy dialogue lies in increasing the level of trust,” he noted. And specifically political. It was obvious that the ex-prime minister did not see anything good when the energy dialogue was conducted in an ultimatum style. But since it was not his destiny to explain to the Russian authorities the usefulness of a mutually beneficial energy position, Mr. Kasyanov decided not to miss the opportunity to do this for Western politicians. Making it clear that the main thing is to eliminate aggressiveness in the dialogue.

Assessing the current state of energy cooperation between the EU and Russia, Mr. Kasyanov noted: “Judging by the volume of energy supplies, announced commercial plans and projects, cooperation is developing very successfully, but recently a number of alarming trends have emerged.” In his opinion, “the energy dialogue, which began several years ago, has completely lost any serious content and today is reduced to insignificant general statements and small energy saving projects. In light of the newly emerging problems with energy transit, infrastructure projects are being planned that do not meet the criteria of economic efficiency.”

This situation, according to the ex-prime minister, is explained by deep mutual misunderstanding and the inability of the parties to discuss truly important and pressing topics, the uncertainty of the prospects for energy reform in the European Union and its halt in Russia, growing economic xenophobia throughout the world, as well as the vicious foreign economic policy pursued in recent years. time by the Russian authorities and state-owned companies.

Mikhail Kasyanov sees a way out in creating new, “clean” rules of the game in the energy market, in diversification, in creating a joint system for supporting investment in the energy sector in order to stimulate direct European investment in the production of energy resources in Russia and their transportation, as well as direct Russian investment in distribution networks in the European Union countries.

Mr. Kasyanov tried to explain to the Europeans that their desire to minimize the risks of complete dependence on Russian energy resources may well be understandable to Russia, which itself should be wary of being 100% dependent on the export of its raw materials. And just these two fears are a good reason for negotiations.

Vera KUZNETSOVA