University of Helsinki

Archive 2006

Energy Relations in Northeast Asia: Regional Dynamics and Lessons for Europe

Date: December 11th 2006
Place: University of Helsinki
Chair: Markku Kivinen, director, Aleksanteri Institute

Presentations

• Ambassador B. Bassin Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Overall Regional Political Background
• David Dusseault, Eurasia Energy Group, Aleksanteri Institute: The Role of North Korea in Northeast Asia Energy Relations
  [presentation]
• Dr. Guo Xuetang, Visiting Scholar, Centre for East and South-East Asia Studies, Lund University: The Energy Geopolitics in Northeast Asia: A Chinese Perspective

Commentary

• Mr. Chull-joo Park, First Secretary and Consul, Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Finland: South Korea in Northeast Asia Energy Relations
• Mr. Teruaki Nagasaki, Minister, Japanese Embassy in Finland
• Dr. Pami Aalto Eurasia Energy Group, Aleksanteri Institute: Lessons from Northeast Asia Energy Relations for Europe
  [presentation]

 

Georgia Today: Wine, Energy and International Politics

Date: November 6th, 2006
Place: Aleksanteri Insititute

Chair: Hanna Smith, researcher, Aleksanteri Insititute

Opening words by the chair, researcher Hanna Smith, Aleksanteri Institute: “ Georgia in International Politics”

“Wine and the nation: the mood in Georgia today”, Dr. Jeremy Smith, senior lecturer, Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham, and visiting researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute.

“The energy and security situation”, researcher Mikko Palonkorpi, Aleksanteri Institute
[presentations]

Challenges and Prospects for Development of the European Energy Sector

Date: June 15th, 2006
Place: Aleksanteri Institute

Chair: Ambassador Benjamin Bassin, Unit for Policy Planning and Research, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Key Note Speech

• "The Future of the European Energy Policy – BP’s perspective"
  Mr. Howard Chase, Director of European Government Affairs for BP Europe
  [presentation]

Guest Speaker

• Dr. Pekka Sutela, Head of BOFIT, Bank of Finland
  

 

Russia / EU Energy Relations: Present Limitations & Future Prospects

Date: June 9th, 2006
Place: Aleksanteri Institute

Chair: Dr. Pami Aalto, Aleksanteri Institute

"Russia Looking Inward: Russian Perceptions of the EU/Russia Energy Dialogue"
Dr. Viacheslav Morozov, School of International Relations, St. Petersburg State University

"Energy Security in the Context of EU -Russian Energy Dialogue"
Dr. V.A. Voloshin, Institute of Economics RAS Moscow
[power point presentation]

"German Interests in EU-Russia Energy Relations"
Dr. Kirsten Westphal, Institute for Political Research, Giessen University

"Pumps, Pipelines, and Perceptions: The Existing Divide between European Energy Security and Policy Rationality"
Mr. David Dusseault, Eurasia Energy Group, Aleksanteri Institute
[power point presentation]

"The Northeast Asia Point of View: Energy Sector Outlook and Regional Cooperation with Russia"
Mr. Kensuke Kanekiyo, Managing Director, Institute of Energy Economics, Japan
[power point presentation]

The Two-Level Game: Russia’s relations with Great Britain, Finland and the European Union

Date: April 21th, 2006
Place: Aleksanteri Institute

The seminar was organized by the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki in cooperation with SITRA - The Finnish National Fund for Research and Development and the Finnish Institute, London.

Opening of the seminar by Markku Kivinen, the Director of the Aleksanteri Institute, Finland

Opening presentation by Sitra, Senior adviser Stefan Widomski, Nokia, Finland

Panel I: Political context
Chair: Hanna Smith, Aleksanteri Institute

"Does history play a role in current Russia-Finnish relations?"
Timo Vihavainen, Renvall Institute, University of Helsinki,

"War terror and Chechnya in British-Russo relations"
John Russell, University of Bradford

"Cross border cooperation"
Tarja Cronberg, Parliament of Finland

"British- Russo relations today"
Graham Timmins, University of Stirling

Panel II: Energy in Russia’s external relations
Chair: Pertti Aalto, senior adviser, Nesteoil

"What role does the Northern Dimension play in EU-Russia energy relations?"
Pami Aalto, Aleksanteri Institute

"EU-Russia energy relations"
Amelia Hadfield, University of Kent

"Russian commentary"
Tatiana Romanova , St.Petersburg State University, School of International Relations, Russia

Panel lII: Bilateral and Multilateral economic relations
Chair: Stefan Widomski, Nokia, Finland

"Bilateral economic relations between Finland and Russia: Finnish business experiences in Northwest Russia"
Riitta Kosonen, Helsinki School of Economics

"Kaliningrad- A piece of Russia in the EU- test ground for economic cooperation"
Kari Liuhto, Pan-European Institute, Turku School of Economic

"Russia-EU economic relations, with special reference to agriculture and forestry"
Alberto Volpato, EC delegation to Russia, Moscow

"Russian commentary"
Anna Abalkina, Institute for Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Problems of Integration

"Are we heading towards growing bilateralism in Russia- EU relations?"
Closing words Jackie Gower, King’s college, London

At the same time the seminar was book launch for a publication by Hanna Smith (ed.) The Two-Level Game: Russia’s relations with Great Britain, Finland and the European Union, Kikimora publications, Saarijärvi, 2006

The seminar and the book are based on Finnish-British researcher’s network project on “Russia and the EU – The relationship during Putin’s second presidency in multilateral and bilateral contexts: Finland, Great Britain and Russia”.

“As the European Union struggles to agree a common line and to establish mutual understanding in its dealings with Russia, the story of how bilateral relations work between Russia and two European countries is instructive for the future relationship with Europe as a whole. The first, Great Britain, is one of the leading powers in Europe with a history of imperial rivalry with Russia. The second, Finland, is a small country which was once part of the Russian Empire, and now has Russia’s longest border with the European Union. In this book, leading experts from both Finland and Britain analyse the political, economic, and security relationship Russia enjoys, both on a multilateral level with the EU as a whole, and bilaterally with Britain and Finland.”

Energy Policy & Its Observable Effects

Date: April 7th, 2006
Place: Aleksanteri Institute

Chair: Dr. Vesa Rautio, Aleksanteri Institute

"Prospects for FDI in the Russian Oil Sector, with a Particular Focus on Sakhalin"
Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Human Geography University of Leicester

"North-West Russia as a Gateway to Russian Energy Geopolitics"
Markku Tykkyläinen, Professor of Human Geography University of Joensuu
[presentation slides]

"Finnish-Russian oil joint venture SeverTEK: Experiences, Challenges and Opportunities"
Ilkka Jussila, Project Planning Manager, Neste Oil Oyj
[power point presentation]

Energy Politics in Post Soviet Space

Date: January 20th, 2006
Place: Aleksanteri Institute

Opening of the Seminar: David Dusseault, Visiting Researcher & Energy Project Coordinator Aleksanteri Institute

Panel I: Interregional Interdependence: Energy Links in Post Soviet Space and Beyond

Panel Chair: Hanna Smith, Researcher, Aleksanteri Institute

"Russia and Central Asia"
Dr. Roy Allison, London School of Economics and Political Science

"Gazprom: Looking beyond Europe"
Ms. Zeyno Baran, Director of international Security and Energy Programs, The Nixon Centre

"Over a Barrel: Energy Sector Interdependence in the Post Soviet Context"
Mr. David Dusseault, Visiting Researcher & Energy Project Coordinator, Aleksanteri Institute

Panel II: The Caucasian Knot: Energy and Politics Intertwined

Panel Chair: Mikko Palonkorpi, Researcher, Aleksanteri Institute

"Georgian Security and Energy"
Mr. Temuri Yakobashvili, Executive Vice-President of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

"Energy and its Effects on the Caucasus"
Dr. Svante Cornell, Research Director, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Programme

"Energy in the Caucasus and Central Asia: Politics by Other Means"
Dr. Fredrick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Programme

Closing Remarks Prof. Markku Kivinen, Director of the Aleksanteri Institute

The Future of the Commonwealth of Independent States

Date: December 1st, 2005
Place: Aleksanteri Institute

Opening of the Seminar: Prof. Markku Kivinen, Director Aleksanteri Institute

Panel I: Energy Politics and its Ramifications for the CIS and EU
Panel Chair: Dr. Pami Aalto Aleksanteri Institute

"Energy Cooperation of Russia with Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus and Turkmenistan"
Dr. Armen Safaryan, Deputy Director, Head of Investment and Perspective Development Department, International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy MGIMO-RAS

"To Pump Oil or Dry Breadcrumbs: Recent State Interventions in the Russian Oil and Gas Industry"
Dr. Phil Hanson, University of Birmingham, CREES

"Topic to be announced"
Mr. Oleg Zakataev, RAO Nordic Oy

"The Role of Russian Companies in the CIS Energy Sector"
Mr. Peeter Vahtra, Researcher Pan-European Institute TUKKK

Panel II: Hard and Soft Security Issues in the CIS
Panel Chair: Dr. Timo Hellenberg, Aleksanteri Institute

"The Colour Revolutions: Security Implications for the CIS"
Dr. Graeme P. Herd, Geneva Centre for Security Policy

"The Arming of the Caucasus: Oil Wealth and a Developing Regional Arms Race"
Mr. Mikko Palonkorpi, Researcher, Aleksanteri Institute

"Soft Security Issues in the CIS"
Dr. Christer Pursiainen, Senior Research Fellow, Nordic Centre for Spatial Development

Panel III: Nationalism, Identity, Conflict and Social Stability
Panel Chair: Prof. Markku Kivinen, Director, Aleksanteri Institute

"Borders and Identities in the CIS: Where Ethnicity and Geography Collide"
Prof. Ron Hill, Department of Political Science, Trinity College Dublin

"The Soviet Orphans: Nargorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, Transdniestria and the Soviet Legacy"
Dr. Jeremy Smith, CREES, University of Birmingham

"What about us? The Census and Minorities in the Russian Federation"
Dr. Sergei Sokolovski, Institute for Ethnography and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow

Panel IV: Political and Economic Viability: The Future of the States in the CIS
Panel Chair: Ms. Hanna Smith, Researcher, Aleksanteri Institute

"The CIS in Perspective: Hesitant Start…Uncertain Future?"
Prof. Robert Legvold, Harriman Institute Columbia University

"Future Political Prospects for the CIS"
Mr. Konstantin F. Zatulin, Representative, Russian State Duma, & Director, Institute of CIS Countries, Moscow

"Prospects for Economic Integration in the CIS"
Dr. Mikhail Y. Golovnin, Deputy Director, Centre for Problems of Integration IIEPS-RAS

"The New GUAM and the New EU Member States"
Mr. Antti Turunen, Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Inter-regional Relations

"The Interest Divide: Ukraine Facing East and West"
Mr. Arseniy Svynarenko, Researcher, Aleksanteri Institute