A business luncheon with HE the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Greece, Mr Andrey Vdovin, as guest speaker was organized by the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE) at the Athens Hilton Hotel on May 17, 2006. Speaking before a full audience, Mr Vdovin talked about the Hellenic-Russian economic and commercial relations, in particular regarding the crucial energy sector. After referring briefly to the strong historical ties between the two countries –essentially in the cultural sphere– Mr Vdovin spoke of «the recent strengthening of Greek-Russian cooperation» in the economic and energy sectors, but also stressed Russia's continued political will for further steps in the same direction.
The Russian Ambassador initially referred to his country's stability in terms of economic development over the past years, with Russia's GDP growing by 6.4% last year. The stabilization of the Russian economy is also obvious when examining the country's exports, which reached U$D 241.3 billion in 2005, its foreign trade balance, which had a surplus of U$D 142 billion, and the influx of direct foreign investment, which exceeded U$D 16 billion. Referring to the significant increase of oil prices, Mr Vdovin pointed out that this has a positive outcome for Russia, as the funds generated by the price hike are already being channelled towards the country's development, but are also being used to reimburse its foreign debt –via the Paris Club–, expected to be fully paid off by end-2006.
In respect to the commercial and economic relations between Greece and Russia, Mr Vdovin cited the National Statistical Service of Greece's data, whereby trade between the two countries reached U$D 4 billion in 2005. However, he drew attention to the fact that the economic cooperation's values are inferior to existing potential, mentioning as an example the small-scale investments between Greece and the Russian provinces. This said, he observed that a positive tendency exists, which should become more obvious over the following years.
Regarding the energy sector, Mr Vdovin announced Russia's intention to extend the natural gas supply contracts beyond their present expiry date of 2016, while also expressing his favourable position regarding Greece's role as a future energy bridge between East and West. Talking about the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, he assured the audience that, for all the delays, the project is on the right track and that it will soon enter its implementation phase.
Mr Vdovin made particular reference to the issue of energy supply security and the confrontation that has arisen with the EU, stressing that Russia's steady objective is to reach certain common rules of conduct as well as a balance between suppliers and consumers. However, he characterized the recent «campaign against Gazprom» as being politically motivated, pointing out that over the past 40 years Russia has consistently fulfilled all her obligations arising from the agreements signed with Western countries and, consequently, this attack is unfounded. He further defended all corporations' right of free access to foreign markets, pointing out the «if consumers have the right to choose new suppliers, then suppliers too have the right to explore new markets».
Closing his speech, Mr Vdovin mentioned a few of the problems encountered in the cooperation between Greece and Russia, in particular the «instrumental barring». However, he was optimistic that these points of friction will soon be overcome.