Energy Charter and Russia talk about cooperation

The Chairman of the Energy Charter Conference, former European Commission Vice-President Henning Christophersen, and Dr. Ria Kemper, Secretary General of the Energy Charter Secretariat, held talks in Brussels with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko. The talks focused on Russia's cooperation with the Energy Charter, an inter-governmental organisation promoting east-west energy cooperation in which 51 states participate, and on prospects for ratification by the Russian parliament of the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
Mr. Khristenko reaffirmed the intention of the Russian government to facilitate actively ratification of the ECT by the State Duma. He underlined the importance that Russia attaches to the Energy Charter, describing it as an organisation that promotes the common interests of Russia and its EU partners in ensuring Europe's energy security on the basis of commonly-accepted and transparent legal norms.

Mr. Christophersen drew attention to the important signalthat Russian ratification of the ECT would send concerning the improving legal climate for foreign investors in Russia. "With Russia's energy industries looking to attract foreign capital, and the European Union having a clear interest in ensuring stable sources of external energy supplies, the need for a common legal foundation for energy cooperation in Europe is clear. The ECT is an important instrument in this regard. Ratification of it by Russia would be a positive step for western energy investors in Russia and for Russian energy companies themselves."
At the invitation of the Russian Energy Ministry, Mr. Christophersen and Dr. Kemper will visit Moscow later this autumn for talks with the Russian government and parliament aimed at developing further cooperation between Russia and the Energy Charter.