Programme

Energy demand will continue to grow over the coming decades, and with it, demand for gas. Recent studies indicate that around 50% more gas will be needed globally by 2040. At the same time, however, European gas production will fall by about 40%. This will mean that Europe will have to import around three quarters of its gas via pipelines and LNG. In order to meet the EU’s climate goals, Germany – already Europe’s largest gas consumer – plans to phase out all coal-fired power plants by 2038. This decision will increase the need for gas still further as the EU seeks to ensure access to secure, sustainable, and affordable energy. Russia has the largest natural gas reserves in the world. These can help fill a major part of Europe’s growing import gap, and at a very competitive price. However, the issue of Europe’s energy supply has never been as geopolitically charged as it is today. Political interests and decisions seem to take precedence over economic necessity and climate protection. Indeed, instead of welcoming member states’ decisions to further reduce their carbon emissions, the EU and individual member states have attempted to block viable supply solutions, purely out of political interests. This complicates the picture in the European gas market. How will an economically and ecologically feasible energy mix for Europe look in the future? How will Europe navigate the dynamics of the market to achieve the best possible mix? Why does Europe need additional pipeline capacities to transport gas from Russia’s vast gas fields? How will Russian gas and LNG compete to provide energy security for Europe? What strategic advantage does Russian gas offer Europe? How does Nord Stream 2 fit into the EU’s energy strategy?

Welcoming address
Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of Leningrad Region

Alexander Drozdenko

Governor of Leningrad Region

Born on November 1, 1964 in the Dzhambul Region, Kazakhstan, Alexander Drozdenko graduated from Leningrad Agriculture Institute in 1986 with a degree in the economics and organization of agriculture. He obtained a PhD in Economics in 2007. Between 1988 and 2002, he worked in various positions in the Kingisepp District of the Leningrad Region. In November 2002, Alexander Drozdenko was invited to join the Government of the Leningrad Region and appointed as the Region’s Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Leningrad Region Committee on State Property Management. In May 2012, the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region, on the recommendation of the President of the Russian Federation, elected Drozdenko as Governor of the Leningrad Region. He was inaugurated on May 28, 2012. On May 12, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree “On the Early Termination of the Powers of the Governor of the Leningrad Region.” Alexander Drozdenko has been appointed acting Governor of the Leningrad Region. At the pre-term gubernatorial elections in Leningrad Oblast that took place on 13 September 2015 Alexander Drozdenko received the majority of votes. On 30 September 2015 Alexander Drozdenko took office as the Governor.

Moderator
Friedbert Pflueger, Managing Partner, Pflüger International GmbH

Friedbert Pflueger

Managing Partner, Pflüger International GmbH

Director
EUCERS, King’s College London
Background information
Friedbert Pflüger has been Director of the European Centre for Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) at King’s College London since 2009
Pflüger is Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council of the U.S.
He is the Managing Director of Pflüger International GmbH in Berlin, a Senior Advisor to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Member of the Supervisory Board of Alstom Power GmbH.
Pflüger has hosted the monthly “Energy Talks at the Reichstag” since 2009. He is a member of the Trilateral US-Europe-Turkey Task Force of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), member of the Resilien-Tech Working Group of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering (ACATECH) and Director of the Strategic Metal Working Group of Atlantik-Brücke.
He was a member of the German Parliament for sixteen years until 2006. He served as Deputy Defence Minister in 2005 for the first Merkel Government, having been foreign policy spokesman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group for the three previous years. He also served as Chairman of the Bundestag’s EU-Committee from 1998 to 2002.

Key note
Gerhard Schroeder, Chairman of the Shareholders’ Committee, Nord Stream 2 AG

Gerhard Schroeder

Chairman of the Shareholders’ Committee, Nord Stream 2 AG

Panellists
Annette Berkhahn Blyhammar, Senior Advisor Energy & Utilities, Arthur D. Little Stockholm
Keith Martin, Chief Commercial Officer, Uniper
Katsiaryna Yafimava, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

Annette Berkhahn Blyhammar

Senior Advisor Energy & Utilities, Arthur D. Little Stockholm

Annette Berkhahn Blyhammar is a seasoned energy market analyst and management consultant with more than 25 years of experience in working in the Nordic and European energy sector.
She has worked with senior management and leadership teams in some of Europe’s leading utilities on analysing new market entry opportunities, how to grow organically or via acquisition, how to expand product lines into new areas, how to position companies in the value chain, how to build up new value chains via smart investments, how to manage risk, how to optimize asset portfolios; and many other strategic issues and challenges.
Her specialties include not only power, oil and gas, but also topics such as renewables, LNG (small and large), market design, regulatory strategy and commercial due diligence, how to find attractive investments in a market environment dependent on support mechanisms, and much more.
Since January 2017 Berkhahn Blyhammar has been Senior Advisor Energy and Sustainability at Arthur D. Little as well as Non Executive Director at IGRENE AB.
Since September 2002 she has been the Managing Director of Deduxo, a business consultancy in the areas of Business development, Sustainability, Strategy and M&A Support.
• Prior to her current position at ADL, she was Director at Accenture from May 2014 to December 2016, Senior Manager at Pöyry Management Consulting from March 2010 to February 2014 in the area of global responsibility for management consulting services for the Baltics and North-East Europe, and worked for Vattenfall, Statoil, McKinsey as well as PWC in different positions.
In the years 2006 to 2009 she was Principal at ADL.
Berkhahn Blyhammar holds a Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Publications:
Annette Berkhahn and Michael Kruse published “Economic impact on Europe of the Nord Stream 2 Project” in 2017. (Link)
In March 2018 Annette Berkhahn, Michael Kruse and Yvonne Fuller published the white paper “Analysis of the proposed gas directive amendment” for Arthur D. Little. (March 2018).

Keith Martin

Chief Commercial Officer, Uniper

Katsiaryna Yafimava

Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies