Belgrade was the city which hosted this year’s "SE Europe Energy
Dialogue”, IENE’s long established event focusing on the regional energy
agenda, which took place on June 13-14, 2017.
"Connecting SE Europe’s Energy Markets”
was t
he special theme for this year’s SEEED
,
signifying the tremendous effort now taking place in
connecting regional energy markets in more ways than one.
IENE’s recently published major study
,
the "SE Europe Energy Outlook 2016/2017”,
was
also presented, for the first time at regional level,
at the "10th SE Europe Energy Dialogue”. T
he
Institute’s annual
conference
once more brought
together high-ranking government officials, senior
business executives and energy experts from all countries of S.E. Europe and
beyond.
The 10th SEEED started on Tuesday, June 13, with opening
remarks by Mr. John Chadjivassiliadis, Chairman of IENE. During this opening
session, which was chaired by the Institute’s Executive Director, Mr. Costis
Stambolis, Dr. Branko Kovacevic
(President of EPS Supervisory Board, Serbia) and Mr. Manolis Panagiotakis (Chairman and CEO,
Public Power Corporation, Greece) were the keynote speakers. A lively
discussion followed, with useful insights into each corporation’s business
challenges.
The first session, on the international and regional perspectives, was
chaired by Mr. Nikola Radovanovic (Chief Legal Officer for EU Legislation, EU
Liaison Office, CEO Office, NIS Gazprom Neft, Serbia). The speakers of this
session included Dr. Yurdakul Yigitguden (Independent Energy Consultant and
Former Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environment Activities, Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Turkey), Dr. Narsi Ghorban (Secretary
to the Environment and Energy Commission of the International Chamber of
Commerce, Iran), Prof. Dr. Ionut Purica (Executive Director, Advisory Center
for Energy and Environment, Romanian Academy, Romania), Ms. Dragana Orlic
(Deputy Director, Electricity Coordinating Center -EKC, Serbia). A panel
discussion with the participation of above speakers and Mr. Milan Zdravkovic
(DSO Executive Director, PE SRBIJAGAS, Serbia) and Dr. Branko Kovacevic,
followed.
Chaired by Dr. Hans Hutta (General Manager, International Center for
Petroleum & Industrial Management -ICM, Austria), the second session focused
on the changing regional energy landscape and key policy issues. During this
session Costis Stambolis, Executive Director of IENE, presented the Institute’s
major study project, the "SE Europe Energy Outlook 2016/17”. The findings
and main conclusions of the study were discussed by a panel comprising by Dr.
Dusko Tubic (Director, Security Coordination Centre, Serbia), Mr. Gus
Papamichalopoulos (Secretary General, IENE, Partner, KG Law Firm, Greece), Prof. Dr. Ionut Purica (Executive
Director, Advisory Center for Energy and Environment, Romanian Academy, Romania)
and Mr. Nenad Stefanovic (Senior Expert for Electricity, Energy Agency of the
Republic of Serbia -AERS, Serbia).
The proceedings of the second day (Wednesday, June 14, 2017) of IENE’s
10th SEEED started with the third session, on the electricity market priorities
and regional integration. Covering a wide range of subjects, icluding electricity market
operation, CACM early implementation, regulatory and legal issues, cross border
electricity trading, grid expansion andpower exchanges, this session, chaired by Mr. Nenad Stefanovic, was
divided into two parts. Mr. David Zarkovic (Manager for Electricity Trading,
EPS, Serbia), Mr. Andreas Mitafidis (Director of Energy Trading Department,
PPC, Greece),
Mr. Milos Mladenovic
(
Managing Director, SEEPEX, Serbia
) and
Dr. Nick Frydas
(
Senior Energy Specialist, Energy & Resources Efficiency Advisory
Services, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group,
Serbia) were the speakers of the first part. The
second part included Dr. Vesna Borozan (Professor Faculty of Electrical
Engineering and Information Technologies, University of Sts. Cyril and
Methodius, FYROM), Mr. Aleksandar Mijuskovic (Executive Director Coordinated
Auction Office in South East Europe, SEECAO, Montenegro) and Mr. Dragan
Vignjevic (General Manager, Statkraft, Serbia).
The critical issues facing RES and energy efficiency in SE Europe, with
a special focus on energy efficiency and innovative applications in the
building sector and in industry, RES prospects and energy storage and new
funding schemes for RES, were the main subjects covered by the conference’s
fourth session. Dr. Vesna Borozan chaired this session, while speakers included
Mr. Costas Theofylaktos (Chairman, COGEN Greece, Chairman of the Energy
Efficiency Committee and Member of the BoD, IENE, Greece), Dr. Yurdakul
Yigitguden (Independent Energy Consultant and Former Co-ordinator of OSCE
Economic and Environment Activities, Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe, Turkey), Mr. Marijan Rancic (Energy Specialist, International
Finance Corporation, World Bank Group, Serbia), Prof. Milos Banjac (Assistant
Minister, Sector for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Mining
and Energy, Serbia), Mr. Aleksandar Macura (Chairman of the Board, RES
Foundation, Serbia) and Mr. Nicholaos Sofianos (Head of Research, IENE, Greece).
The fifth session, on the challenges and opportunities of SE Europe’s expanding
natural gas market, focused especially on Major Gas Interregional Projects in
the region, the Expanded Southern Corridor and the role of East Med Gas, as
well as on gas interconnectors and market integration, energy security issues
and the role of LNG. Chaired by Mr. Petar Maksimovic (Secretary General, Energy
Agency of the Republic of Serbia -AERS, Serbia), speakers included Mr.
Aleksandar Κovacevic (Energy Expert, Serbia), Dr. Nikolaos Farantouris (General
Counsel & Head of Legal, DEPA, Greece, Chair of Legal Affairs Committee,
EUROGAS, Belgium), Mr. Vladimir Durovic (Energy Expert, Croatia), Mr. Jovica
Budimir (Investment Executive Director, PE SRBIJAGAS, Serbia) and Mr. Stamatios
Koutsoukos (Process Coordinator, Asprofos Engineering, Greece).
Chaired by Mr. Milan Zdravkovic, the sixth, session covered issues
concerning energy investments and business opportunities in SE Europe. More
particularly, major energy investment projects in the region, demand-side
management, investment opportunities and environmental issues were examined
during this session, with the participation of Mr. Nikola Radovanovic, Mr.
Pavlos Baxevani,( Director of Business Development Dpt, PPC, Greece), Mr. Ilia
Gjermani (Head, Regulatory and Management Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Energy, Albania), Dr. Christos Papadopoulos (Regional Director Europe, Energy
Exemplar, UK), Mr. Vuk Radovic (General Manager in EKO SERBIA A.D., Member of
the Hellenic Petroleum Group, Serbia) and Ms. Milica Pesteric (Senior
Associate, BDK, SEE Legal, Serbia).
Confronting energy poverty in SE Europe was the topic of the seventh and
final session of IENE’s 10th SEEED, chaired by Prof. Dimitrios Mavrakis
(Director, Energy Policy and Development Centre of the National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece). Focusing on energy poverty in SE
Europe, energy efficiency measures, financial support schemes and access to
electricity and heating fuel, this session took place with Mr. Savvas Politis
(Scientific Project Officer, European Commission, DG Joint Research Center,
Directorate C: Energy, Transport & Climate, Unit C.7: Knowledge for Energy
Union, The Netherlands), Mr. Mihailo Mihailovic (Energy Expert, Serbia), Mr.
Nikola Tomasovic (Energy Consultant, NIRAS International Consulting, Serbia),
Mr. George Lantzas (PPC Albania Sh.A), Mr. Costas Theofylaktos and Prof.
Ksenija Petovar (Belgrade, Serbia).
The 10th SE
Europe Energy Dialogue was organized under the auspices of Serbia’s Ministry of
Energy and Mining. Greece’s Public Power Corporation S.A. and Serbia’s NIS
Gazprom Neft were the conference’s
leading sponsors. Hellenic Petroleum S.A. and Greece’s Public Gas Corporation
S.A. were the event’s sponsors, whereas its supporters were
PE SRBIJAGAS, KG Law Firm and SEE
Legal. Energia.gr,SEE News, New Europe and Balkan Green Energy News were the
conference’s Media Partners.
The
presentations of the 10th SEEED will soon be available to all
conference participants and IENE members via a special microsite.