Alexander Novak’s talks with World Energy Council Secretary General Angela Wilkinson
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak held talks via videoconference with Secretary General and CEO of the World Energy Council (WEC) Angela Wilkinson.
The talks focused on the organisation of the 25th World Energy Congress scheduled to take place in St Petersburg on 24-27 October 2022. During the meeting, Alexander Novak and Angela Wilkinson discussed several organisational issues related to the preparations for the congress.
This congress, which is scheduled to take place in Russia, is an important event both for Russian and global energy industry. The deputy prime minister noted that in 2022 the World Energy Council will celebrate its 100th anniversary and the congress will mark it. The event will be held in Russia for the first time since 1968.
“Russia, along with a number of other countries, stood at the origins of the World Energy Council and even today invariably continues to attach great importance to cooperation with this respected organisation. We have received the right to hold the congress following a vote involving over 90 member countries and we have set an ambitious task: to organise the largest congress in history that will also bring together several heads of state. We expect an equal or higher number of participants compared with the previous congresses,” Alexander Novak noted.
During the talks, the deputy prime minister discussed in detail organisational innovations introduced while preparing for the congress. Alexander Novak noted that the composition of the organising committee had recently been updated so that it now includes several heads of federal executive bodies and heads of the largest Russian energy companies; 12 working groups have been established in various areas of work and a new head of the Russian National Committee of WEC has been appointed.
“The organising committee will meet once a quarter; its second meeting was held in early April where the preparations were discussed and respective instructions were issued. An invitation campaign to the congress and registration of participants have already started; we plan to send proposals on moderators and speakers that meet WEC standards to the WEC Secretariat by the end of the month,” said Alexander Novak.
