Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak holds informal meeting with students during REW 2017
Moscow, 7 October. – Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak held an informal meeting with students and young specialists in the fuel and energy sector as part of Youth Day during Russian Energy Week. The minister answered questions from the discussion participants in the hall. Young people from Russia’s regions also had an opportunity to interact with the minister via a video bridge. The conversation primarily focused on the future of energy, the role of hydrocarbons, successes in import substitution, modern technologies, and personnel potential.
Commenting on the global energy balance, Novak noted that the hydrocarbon era is not over. “Today they make up 85% of the energy balance. Hydrocarbon production will increase in absolute terms within 20 years. The share of electricity consumption will also increase”, Novak said.
Novak stressed that energy is the driver of economic growth and that significant changes are taking place in the fuel and energy sector today. “Work is under way on a technology for wireless energy transmission and to improve the efficiency of hydrocarbon production. Soon we will see the active development of smart cities and smart networks”, he said.
Asked about the current situation with import substitution in the fuel and energy sector, Novak said that active work to replace foreign technologies was launched in 2014. “We have already abandoned foreign equipment in for many items. For example, Transneft uses 100% Russian equipment and Gazprom is at 95%”, Novak said. At the same time, he said that the use of foreign equipment should not be completely abandoned since there must be competition on the market.
Speaking about employment and the personnel policy in the fuel and energy sector, Novak noted that the industry currently employs 2.5 million people, and all specialized universities interact with companies in the sector. He conceded that some kinds of modern labour in the energy sector may disappear due to robotization and the development of artificial intelligence, but new specializations will appear.
Commenting on the role of alternative energy, Novak said that Russia is developing renewable energy technologies, but that it would not be advisable to completely switch to green throughout the country. “We need a reasonable balance for the sake of developing all sectors of the fuel and energy industry”, Novak stressed.
At the end of the meeting, Novak presented awards to winners and laureates of youth competitions.
