Energy ministers gathered Friday in Istanbul to discuss the challenges and opportunities for a resilient future, as well as energy security in the wake of ongoing conflicts.
The İstanbul Energy Forum, organized by Anadolu under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, focused on "Common Future, Common Goals" and brought together global energy leaders to address shared challenges.
A ministerial session was moderated by Türkiye's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
Geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and accelerating effects of climate change have exposed vulnerabilities in the energy markets, said Bayraktar.
The challenges have pushed countries to rethink, reshape and innovate, he said.
"There is an urgent need for sustainable investment in energy infrastructure and emerging technologies," said Bayraktar. "I believe we need to set common goals for our common future to overcome these challenges."
Transition needs include the continued role of oil and gas while accelerating electrification and diversifying supply chains to ensure security, jobs and economic development, he underlined.
Regional cooperation is "key" to strengthening energy resilience and promoting energy security throughout the region, according to Georgia's minister of economy and sustainable development.
Levan Davitashvili said it is very important that leaders can and promote investments in renewable energy sectors, as well as transport and energy trade, which are also key to regional energy cooperation.
"We already are in the process of aligning our legislations in the region to promote energy trade among the countries in the region," he said. "And I think these are the steps which are key to guarantee energy security. So, balancing energy supply and energy stability to electricity in all countries is fundamental for the competitiveness of our economy."
"It is directly linked to the livelihood of our people and economic prosperity of our country," he added.
Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian foreign and trade minister, said putting together a national energy mix must remain a purely national competence.
"So, it is necessary to take it, if someone tries to interfere in the composition of your national energy mix, it is being made either because of political reasons or business reasons," he said.
Putting the safety of the energy supply of another country at risk, either by sanctions or by blocking transit, must be considered as an attack against its sovereignty, he underlined.
"We reject all such kinds of initiatives, and we consider them as extremely outrageous," he said.
Without any kind of notice before that, the outgoing administration in the US has just made a measure Thursday putting gas as sanctions -- this can put the central and southeast European countries in a challenging position, he said.
He said when it comes to the safe supply of energy, countries in the region must and will cooperate very tight to find the solution. "How we can secure the safe supply of energy of our countries under these changed circumstances," he said.
As well, independently from any kind of external pressure, independently from any kind of attack, Hungary is grateful to Türkiye, Bulgaria and Serbia for ensuring a very safe, very reliable and very stable transit, he underlined.
"Together with these countries, we will find the solution, how to ensure the safety of the energy supplies of our countries in the future as well, how to protect ourselves from this attack against our energy sovereignty," he added.
Serbia's Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said his country is facing very challenging times.
"The question is, what will we face as gas prices rise? What will we face with electricity prices?" she asked.
She wondered how Serbia can ensure that homes are warm and electricity is safely supplied at the lowest possible cost.
It is especially challenging in the context of increased economic uncertainty, rising tensions in the Middle East and the unclear situation in Ukraine, she added.
"Serbia is in between East and West, and this is the historical fact that we need to ensure the balance, geopolitical balance that is in the best interest of our citizens, and how we have ensured this so far through neutrality and regional cooperation," she said. "Regional cooperation means we need to talk, we need to sit, we need to find solutions, and we need to find compromises."
"We have multiple sanctions on Russia. We are still cooperating and getting gas, and we are thankful for that on a very competitive crisis," said Handanovic. "Nonetheless, we managed to complete the Balkan stream, which relies on the Turkish gas stream for the delivery of gas, not only to Serbia to Hungary, to Austria, to Slovakia, and we will continue to do so."
She said Serbia just heard about new sanctions being led by the West, and emphasized the need to reassure citizens that this winter the country must avoid the same problems they faced two years ago, apparently in reference to the Russia-Ukraine war.
"And it seems to me that there is still not enough pragmatic thinking in Europe about this."
She added that her country "needs more electricity in the future, besides more stable gas sources and more gas pipelines."
"We need to think about how to produce more electricity. And in that context, for us, for Serbia, more hydropower plants, more storage is needed," she said.
Jurabek Mirzamahmudov, the Uzbek energy minister, extended his thanks to Türkiye and Turkish companies for supporting Uzbekistan's reforms in the energy sector.
He said in previous years, Uzbekistan could not discuss certain cooperation with its neighbors, but with the reforms, which started in 2016 when the current president came to power, it has changed drastically.
"Our president started by enhancing the relations with the neighbors nowadays, I could proudly say that for the energy sector, we are cooperating closely with all our countries -- Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan -- with whom we are doing all types of trade, whether supply, export, import or transit," he said.
Enhancing relations between the countries could be an example for other regions in such a volatile world, he said.
Mirzamahmudov said nowadays, Uzbekistan has a joint venture with Tajikistan for implementing two hydropower projects and a big hydropower plant project with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
"Uzbekistan is not only becoming a part of the project or co-investor, but one of the main takers of electricity," he stressed.
A recent example is a strategic operation between Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to supply green renewable energy power to Europe, he noted. "So, I think this is a real example of how the cooperation should be."
Regional and international cooperation in the energy sector is essential to meet growing energy demand in the region, combat climate change and achieve energy security, said Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan's energy minister.
To address the challenges in the sector, Shahbazov said regional cooperation is key.
Azerbaijan, together with Türkiye, is involved in several gas interconnectors and has plans to extend regional cooperation, he said.
Shahbazov said he held a meeting at the İstanbul Energy Forum to discuss the new plans to strengthen partnerships.
Libya is focused on integrating more natural gas resources to support its supply security as well as neighboring countries and Europe, said Khalifa Abdulsadek, Libya's minister of oil and gas.
The country possesses oil and gas and has an ambitious target of increasing oil output to 2 million barrels by 2028, said Abdulsadek.
It wants to supply 1.4 million barrels by the end of the year, he added.
"We are monetizing and developing our gas resources," said Abdulsadek, and added that the country is investing in new projects to advance its production capacity.
"Our strategy is very focused on increasing gas output," according to Abdulsadek, who said the country plans to build a multi-layered energy supply route from Libya to Europe, which will allow the country to boost production levels.
Abdulsadek said Libya also plans to ramp up drilling activities in the region while reducing emissions. "We have set a target to achieve near zero gas flaring by 2030," he said.
Libya is also working with international companies in renewable energy, he said.
Bulgaria's Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov emphasized that energy is a crucial contributor to the national security of all countries.
Malinov highlighted the importance of making energy more affordable, reliable and predictable, stressing the need for stronger partnerships between nations.
"But if you would like to remember just one single word from that panel is that we need to have a strategic partnership, strategic partnership not just on a bilateral basis, but looking much more regional, having a much more better-coordinated approach," Malinov said.
He added that countries need to develop common solutions and decisions, focusing on co-investments and sharing financial risks.
Noting the necessity for improved connectivity between countries in the energy sector, Malinov also pointed out that Türkiye is a strategic partner for Bulgaria.
