Putin spoke at the Russian Energy Week. The main thing

On October 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the opening session of the International Forum "Russian Energy Week". The Russian leader spoke about the main challenges and tasks of the energy sector and the current state of the Russian oil and gas and nuclear industries. Read more about the main theses of the president in the Izvestia article.

About global trends

• At the beginning of his speech, Putin said that the development of the global fuel and energy complex (fuel and energy complex) is primarily influenced by the artificial breakdown of the energy architecture, which began due to the actions of the West. This is reflected, for example, in the refusal of European countries to purchase Russian energy resources under political pressure. The consequence of this is a drop in industrial turnover in the European Union, higher prices due to purchases of more expensive alternative fuels, and a decrease in the competitiveness of goods.

• According to Putin, the global energy sector is currently undergoing a reorientation towards the countries of the global South: the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, and Latin America. They provide more reliable logistics chains, build ports and hubs that allow them to direct energy flows and meet the needs of customers.

• The development of the global economy leads to an increase in energy consumption, Putin noted. At the same time, the locomotive of the energy market is still the oil and gas industry. The world still cannot abandon internal combustion engines, and electric motors are still powered mainly by energy generated by carbon generation.

About the Russian oil and gas industry

• Putin said that Russia remains one of the world leaders in oil production. By the end of 2025, 510 million tons are expected to be produced, which is 1% less than in the previous year, but the decrease is due to the country's obligations under the OPEC+ alliance. This allows us to keep the global oil market in balance, which is in the interests of both producers and consumers.

• The geography of Russian oil supplies has shifted from Europe to other countries due to the political situation, Putin recalled. Nevertheless, the Russian oil sector is operating steadily and making plans for the future. He managed to show flexibility and build new supply and payment channels in order to reach the external consumer.

"Russia remains one of the leading oil producers"

Vladimir Putin's speech at the Russian Energy Week event. Main quotes

• After oil, Putin turned his attention to natural gas. He noted an increase in consumption of this type of fuel in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, while in Europe, demand dropped below 2019 due to falling production. Russian gas exports have not yet recovered to their highest levels, but they continue to grow due to a change in the vector towards more responsible buyers.

• Russia is also increasing its domestic gas consumption, Putin said. This is happening both at the expense of new chemical industries and the supply of gas to the population. In the last five years alone, 100,000 km of gas distribution networks have been laid, which has brought the gasification level closer to 75%. At the same time, according to Putin, it is necessary to replenish the resource base through the development of hard-to-recover gas reserves. In this regard, the President instructed the government to develop and implement a special program in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.

About the coal industry

• Putin devoted a separate part of his speech to the state of the coal industry in Russia. He stressed that coal still occupies a significant place in the global energy mix. Although Western countries are reducing their consumption, Asian countries are only increasing it, which allows the coal market to maintain its importance.

• Putin noted that coal producers are now facing falling prices, but the government will support enterprises by restructuring loans. He asked the government to keep the coal industry under control and set up tools to support it. At the same time, coal enterprises, according to Putin, should improve their efficiency. He also suggested developing a plan to use clean coal generation to meet the needs of the digital infrastructure.

About electricity

• Putin noted that the total installed capacity of Russian power plants is 270 GW. He assured that this huge complex is working steadily and accurately, although there may be an electrical shortage in the construction sites of large projects. The President called for overcoming it by updating power grids and commissioning new power plants.

• Putin pointed out that the increase in electricity generation costs should not be passed on to consumers in the form of tariffs. He asked the Government to provide proposals that would allow regulatory, investment and other methods to take this requirement into account. According to him, the dynamics of tariffs should meet the interests of both producers and consumers. Putin recalled that a stable electricity market is the key to the development of the entire Russian economy.

• The President spoke about one important advantage of the Russian electric market: its green character. About 87% of electricity is generated with minimal or zero carbon footprint. Russia not only implements the green agenda in the electric power industry itself, but also creates projects for hydro and nuclear power plants around the world.

About nuclear energy

• Separately, Putin dwelt on the state of nuclear energy. He called Rosatom a high-tech industry leader, which occupies 90% of the global market for nuclear power plants. 110 Russian-designed nuclear power units have been built worldwide, Putin noted. According to him, Russia is the only country that has competencies in the entire nuclear energy chain.

• Putin said that nuclear energy will become the mainstay of the future energy balance in the world, and by 2050 the capacity of the world's nuclear power plants will double. This will happen both at the expense of large power plants and small ones, which no one builds except Russia. Due to them, nuclear power generation will soon appear in the Far East and Siberia.

On technological sovereignty

• Putin called ensuring the technological sovereignty of the Russian fuel and energy complex an important urgent problem. He recalled that Western companies refused to service the equipment supplied to Russia, showing themselves to be unscrupulous partners. To prevent such situations from occurring in the future, it is necessary to change the status of producing countries so that they become technological leaders and do not depend on the political situation in this regard.

• Putin noted that the Russian fuel and energy sector is already undergoing processes to achieve technological leadership. Russian companies produce products at a cost-effective level, which allows them not only to saturate their own market, but also to supply it to global markets. Domestic services already cover the demand for drilling, equipment manufacturing, and field chemicals. Putin assured that what the nuclear energy industry has achieved in Russia can happen in other sectors of the fuel and energy complex.