7 May 2014
At the trilateral consultations that took place in in Warsaw on 2 May, Yuriy Prodan, the Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister, said that his country could not guarantee the storage of necessary amounts of gas during summer for further transit to Europe. (more…)
Source: Reuters | EU should help Ukraine fill gas storage - agencies cite Russian minister
Source: The Voice of Russia | Ukraine has no right to unilaterally revise gas price – Russian energy minister
Source: ITAR-TASS News Agency | Ukraine can’t guarantee gas storage and transit to Europe - Russian minister
20 January 2014
On 16 December 2013, the fourth SHARES Debate entitled Protecting the Arctic area – a responsibility of the Netherlands? was held in Amsterdam. The panel consisted of three speakers: Louwrens Hacquebord, René Lefeber, and Daniel Simons. André Nollkaemper acted as moderator. This blog post highlights the main parts of the debate.
Background – changes and threats
Through the melting of the ice of the Arctic, as a consequence of global warming, new economic opportunities for states and businesses arise. Areas that until recently were covered in ice are now opening up, creating, for example, permanent navigational routes between Asia and Europe, and enabling the exploitation of oil and gas resources that had been previously located in inaccessible areas. The Netherlands, as well as companies incorporated in the Netherlands, are among the many actors that want to capitalise on these new opportunities. The increase of economic activities can pose significant risks to the fragile ecosystem of the Arctic. This raises a fundamental question: who is responsible for the management, use and protection of the Arctic area? In this complex situation, question arise over the role and responsibility of the Netherlands and other actors, including Dutch companies such as Van Oord, Boskalis and Shell. (more…)