Energy Forum
The gas crisis which took place in January 2009 made us even more aware of the necessity to cooperate in the energy sector in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, many heads of concerns from the power sector, politicians and experts keep asking themselves: is the region better prepared for dealing with such situations after that crisis? Many of them think that, for many years now, the European Union has underrated energy problems troubling Central and Eastern Europe. The situation of the region is also made more complicated by the ever greater energy expansion of Russia and the negative consequences of the economic crisis, which has caused a significant drop in foreign investment in the countries of Central and Easter Europe, which, in turn, has reduced financing available for energy projects. Therefore it is necessary to develop new solutions ensuring energy sovereignty by looking for new sources of raw materials, expanding industry capabilities, and developing investment in the area of renewable and nuclear energy. The Eastern Institute has participated in the debate devoted to such problems for many years, both during the Economic Forum in Krynica, where debates devoted to energy issues have their separate agenda and during the Energy Forum which has already been organised for over 4 years. We care about gathering key politicians, businessmen and experts involved in broadly understood energy issues so as to create a platform for discussion about possibilities for cooperation in a new political-economic reality and ensuring energy security on our continent.