Manege Business Programme. Theme: International Cooperation

October 15, 2025
09:00-10:15

Manege, 1st floor, Plenary conference hall

International Cooperation

Global Energy Markets: The Transformation of Relations and Balance of Interests

In recent years, global demand for all types of energy resources has exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts from five years ago due to growth in the global economy, advancements in the digital sector, and changes in global trade and consumer behaviour. The record demand for fossil fuels has coincided with the unprecedented commissioning of renewable energy capacity and the development of hydro and nuclear energy. However, the global energy industry still faces major challenges: the complicated geopolitical situation, sanctions and trade wars, changes in the structure of demand, and the emergence of new energy consumers. How will the global energy market manage to get through the current stage of sanctions, trade wars, protectionism, artificial barriers, and tariff restrictions? Is it possible to reverse the trend and create a unilateral carbon-free energy world? How can energy producing and consuming countries in Asia and Latin America protect their own national interests as well as the interests of the global market against pressure from individual players?

Moderator:
Sergey Brilev — President, The Global Energy Association

Speakers:
Haitham Al Ghais — Secretary General, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud — Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Alparslan Bayraktar — Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Türkiye
Viktor Karankevich — Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus
Foday Mansaray — Director General, Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone
Alexander Novak — Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
Delcy Eloina Rodriguez Gomez — Executive Vice President and Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (video message)
Peter Szijjarto — Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary
Bui Thanh Son — Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Mohamed Hamel — Secretary General, Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF)

October 15, 2025
14:00-15:15

Manege, –2nd floor, conference hall A

International Cooperation

Russia–Africa: Towards the Practical Implementation of Energy Projects

Africa’s demographic potential and need for accelerated economic growth make it crucial to rapidly develop the African energy sector, which requires extensive investment, as well as the construction of new and modernization of existing energy infrastructure. Russian fuel and energy companies are ready to offer their expertise and technological solutions in traditional and renewable energy, which would enable African countries to provide their population with access to a reliable and modern source of energy, develop their economies, and accelerate industrialization. What kind of projects need to be implemented to meet the primary strategic goals of African nations? What forms of partnership best meet the interests of Russia’s African partners and their domestic companies? What are some of the priority sources for project financing? What support measures do companies need to successfully transition to practical steps?

Moderator:
Ilya Kopelevich — Editor-in-Chief, Business FM

Speakers:
NJ Ayuk — Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber
Ibrahim Mohamed Fediel Gebreil — Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of Sudan
Tatiana Dovgalenko — Director of the Department of Partnership with Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Umaru Napoleon Koroma — Deputy Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Sierra Leone
Roman Marshavin — Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation
Andrey Siling — Deputy General Director, Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects; Executive Director, Platform for National Technology Initiative
Stephan Solzhenitsyn — Vice Chairman, International Alliance for Sustainable Coal Use
Mohamed Hamel — Secretary General, Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF)

Front row participant:
Vsevolod Sviridov — Deputy Director, Center for African Studies, Higher School of Economics, National Research University Higher School of Economics

October 15, 2025
14:00-15:15

Manege, –2nd floor, conference hall B

International Cooperation

Nuclear Energy: Saving the Climate, Uniting Countries, and Changing the Image of Humanity

In partnership with the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom

The nuclear industry is currently experiencing an extraordinary boom. Nuclear technologies are a truly inexhaustible source of clean energy. They are the key to reliable energy supplies not only for individual countries, but for entire regions as well. Partnerships between countries in the development of nuclear energy allow for long-term cooperation in both the nuclear sphere and in other high-tech industries. How can nuclear solutions unite countries and help counter global challenges? How do countries’ own solutions in the nuclear sector become the basis for global change? How can we enhance the efficiency of nuclear projects to address the challenges of the green agenda? How are the nuclear industry’s achievements becoming a driver of growth in various industries and why is energy not the only sector where nuclear can provide benefits?

Moderator:
Andrey Bezrukov — President, Technological Sovereignty Export Association; Professor at the Department of Applied Analysis of International Problems, MGIMO University

Speakers:
Sohyla Aboudeif — Postgraduate Student, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Alparslan Bayraktar — Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Türkiye
Viktor Karankevich — Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus
Oleg Kononenko — Pilot-cosmonaut, Hero of Russia
Alexey Likhachev — Director General, State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM
Salem Hamdi — General Director, Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA)

October 15, 2025
16:00-17:15

Manege, –2nd floor, conference hall C

International Cooperation

Russia–Arab Countries

The partnership between Russia and the Arab countries is stable and evolving, despite all the current difficulties. This is reflected in the trade and investment cooperation statistics: in 2024, Arab countries accounted for 10% of Russia’s foreign trade turnover. The countries of the Persian Gulf and North Africa are by far Russia’s largest business partners. Russian companies are looking at Arab countries as destinations for export and localization in leading manufacturing and logistics centres. Experts point to the range of potential trade and manufacturing opportunities that are presenting themselves in the context of the changes in the economic order: cooperation in industry and trade; mutual investment; and technology exchange in energy, oil production, and oilfield services. What is economic cooperation with Arab countries founded on? What role do Russian companies play in this cooperation? How can Russia’s unique technological potential be integrated into energy security in the Arab world? What support can be given to larger, more multi-sectoral and deeper cooperation between countries?

Moderator:
Sergey Gorkov — Chairman, Russian-Arab Business Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation

Speakers:
Karim Abdelsalam — Managing Director for Renewable Energy and Entrepreneurship, Madkour Group
Omar Abdullah Bakodah — General Director, Abdullah Omar Bakodah & company Certified Public Accountants Company
Ilya Vergizaev — Chief Executive Officer, Rosatom Construction Technologies
Valentin Makarov — President, RUSSOFT Association
Roman Marshavin — Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation
Lina Noureddin — Founder, Director, Lamar Holding
Andrey Siling — Deputy General Director, Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects; Executive Director, Platform for National Technology Initiative
Walid Hamid Shiltagh — Ambassador of the League of Arab States to Moscow

October 16, 2025
09:00-10:15

Manege, –2nd floor, conference hall A

International Cooperation

SCO and ASEAN Countries on the Path towards Creating Fair Energy

Today’s energy world can hardly be called fair. Sanctions, protectionism, and artificial restrictions on the development of certain energy sectors that are driven by political rather than economic interests all limit the natural development of the energy sector and harm the economies and energy security of many countries. These external challenges can be overcome by combining the efforts of the countries affected. The best opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation in this regard are with the countries of the Global South and Global East, which play a key role in creating a multipolar and sustainable world order and whose destiny it is to make a decisive contribution to global economic development. Today, the SCO and ASEAN countries are creating a new investment reality, putting forward their vision of the energy future – one that is aimed at creating an equitable, balanced, and sustainable model for global energy development. What principles of “energy justice” should be pursued? What opportunities exist for increasing energy exchange between energy-producing and energy-consuming countries within the SCO and ASEAN and what are their prospects? What joint initiatives and energy projects will help countries come together to achieve their goal of building a fair energy system?

Moderator:
Natalya Popova — First Deputy General Director, Innopraktika

Speakers:
Daler Juma — Minister of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan
Nurlan Ermekbaev — Secretary General, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (video message)
Kazutomo Irie — President, Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC)
Hongpeng Liu — Director of Energy Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Ivan Polyakov — Chairman, Russia – ASEAN Business Council
Olga Prudnikava — Director of the Energy Department, Eurasian Economic Commission
Andrey Siling — Deputy General Director, Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects; Executive Director, Platform for National Technology Initiative
Sergey Tsivilev — Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation
Ibrahim Elmutasim — Minister of Energy and Petroleum of the Republic of the Sudan

Front row participant:
Johngho Park — President, Korea-Russia Business Council

October 16, 2025
11:00-12:15

Manege, –2nd floor, conference hall B

International Cooperation

The Global Liquefied Natural Gas Market: Shortage or Surplus?

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been playing an increasingly important role in the global energy sector in recent years. Flexible transportation and low carbon intensity compared with other hydrocarbons make it a promising, reliable, and affordable source of energy. This is precisely why the global LNG market is developing at a such a rapid pace today. New importers and exporters are emerging, supplies are increasing, and production capacities are being expanded. Experts predict that by 2026 the growth rates in global LNG supplies will be the highest they have been since 2019 at around 7%, or 40 billion cubic metres. By 2050, LNG plants that are slated for construction could see their cumulative capacity more than double and reach one billion tonnes. This means competition on the global LNG market will only be increasing. However, an increase in the number of importers and the creation of new LNG production facilities could upset the fragile balance of supply and demand on this market. What are the projected LNG production and consumption volumes by 2030–2050? Will there be demand for such volumes and could this result in a gas surplus? Will global gas producers be justified in their plans to expand LNG capacities? What technologies does the industry need today? What is the outlook for small-tonnage LNG around the world and in Russia specifically?

Moderator:
Ilya Doronov — Managing Director, RBC

Speakers:
Pavel Zavalny — Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Energy; President, Russian Gas Society
Kirill Molodtsov — Member of the Public Council, Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation
Pavel Sorokin — First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation
Evgeny Tyrtov — Director of Consulting in the Oil and Gas Industry, Analytical Center for the Fuel and Energy Complex

Manege Business Programme. International Cooperation

Global Energy Markets: The Transformation of Relations and Balance of Interests

Russia–Africa: Towards the Practical Implementation of Energy Projects

Nuclear Energy: Saving the Climate, Uniting Countries, and Changing the Image of Humanity

Russia–Arab Countries

SCO and ASEAN Countries on the Path towards Creating Fair Energy

The Global Liquefied Natural Gas Market: Shortage or Surplus?