Sber Held a Business Breakfast on Energy Development at Russian Energy Week

Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, moderated the business breakfast "Energy for a New Day: Preserving the Present, Creating the Future" at Russian Energy Week 2023.

First, Anatoly Popov presented a report on the state of the Russian energy sector. He pointed out that the industry constitutes 2.3% of the GDP and provides employment for 1.5 million people. The domestic power sector is currently in good and efficient shape, boasting high development potential and a low debt burden. Additionally, it offers attractive wholesale and retail electricity prices.

Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank: "Russia has been, currently is, and will remain the place with the cheapest electricity in the world. This demonstrates that the energy industry is significantly less volatile than the economy as a whole, serving as a cushion for its development."

One of the key competitive advantages of the Russian energy sector is the low cost of energy for both industry and households. Domestic energy is many times cheaper than energy in the Western world. Additionally, the Russian energy sector boasts a well-balanced mix of generation methods: 20 per cent is nuclear power, 19 per cent is hydropower, 48 per cent is natural gas, and 13 per cent is coal.

Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank: "The industry is currently confronted with six major challenges. These are the implementation of investment programmes, addressing capacity deficits, striking a balance between equipment reliability and efficiency, further integrating market mechanisms, selecting development priorities for an effective technology support mechanism, and rethinking the optimal allocation of costs among regulators, generators, and consumers."

The main challenge for the Russian energy sector, as identified by the panellists, was achieving technological sovereignty, which was chosen by 45% of respondents. This was followed by modernizing current infrastructure (33%), building new infrastructure (15%), curbing the growth of electricity tariffs (5%), and transitioning to low-carbon generation (3%).

Representatives of the authorities, heads of energy companies, and public organizations spoke at the event. These were Pavel Snikkars, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation; Mikhail Khardikov, Operations Director of EN+ Group; Sergey Terebulin, Deputy General Director for Financial and Corporate Legal Management of RusHydro; Alexey Molsky, Member of the Management Board and Deputy Director General for Investment and Capital Construction of Rosseti; Alexandra Panina, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Association "Council of Energy Producers” and Member of the Management Board of InterRAO; Alexander Vilesov, General Director of T Plus; Alexander Shutikov, General Director of Rosenergoatom Concern; Andrey Vorobyev, General Director of ODK Engineering; Vladimir Tupikin, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the "Community of Energy Consumers” Association, Head of Energy and Resources at SIBUR; and Maxim Bystrov, Chairman of the Board of the NP Market Council.

The Russian Energy Week (REW) International Forum is one of the key international platforms for discussing the most pressing issues in the development of the fuel and energy sector. The Forum has been held since 2017 and has acquired the status of the main event in the field of energy efficiency in Russia and abroad. The event is traditionally attended by representatives of federal authorities, heads of the largest companies in the energy sector, industry organizations, and the media.

This year the forum was held for the sixth time with the participation of over 2,500 guests from more than 50 countries and territories. The central theme of REW 2023 was "New Reality of World Energy: Creating the Future”. The business programme included more than 30 events in four thematic blocks: “The International Agenda", "Sustainable Development and the Climate", "Scientific and Technological Development, and the Digital Transformation" and “The Development of the Fuel and Energy Sectors".

The Forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, with the support of the Moscow City Government.

Official website of REW: rusenergyweek.com. For news about the event and the industry, please follow the official REW page on VK.