Formation of Russia's energy security doctrine

Russian authorities are drafting a new conceptual document on energy security - President Dmitry Medvedev the other day commissioned the government to work out the doctrine by the end of 2011. It is indicative that the head of state voiced the idea of creating the document a week after his meeting with EU president Herman Van Rompuy that was devoted to a possibility of transformation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).

It actually looks like Russia is clearly trying to oppose its conceptual view on the future of energy relations to the Energy Charter. But the problem is that so far this view is not turning into really conceptual. There is a set of actually true but too abstractly formulated theses like the necessity to ensure sustainable and long-term provision of energy resources to the Russian economy, to modernize enterprises of the fuel and energy sector, increase their anti-terrorism protection as well as to actively develop alternative energy sources (it is interesting whether this means priority investments of state funds in these projects rather than in usual hydrocarbons?).

The necessity to develop international cooperation is pointed out. But there is no full-fledged draft of the system of rules of energy resources trade (like the criticized Energy Charter and annexes to it). Russia's official attitude even towards such a key issue as the rules of international transit of hydrocarbons was not indicated. It is also unclear how the issue of access of Central Asian states to Russian gas pipelines will be realized. Will there be free exports or Russia will want to preserve its status of sovereign owner of its pipelines independently defining the procedure of access to them.

By Stanislav Mitrakhovich, NESF leading expert