SNTGN Transgaz SA organized the 2023 edition of the Central European Natural Gas Congress on 27-29 September 2023 in Sibiu, at a defining moment for Europe’s energy security, in the autumn of the second year of conflict in Ukraine, according to a press release for caleaeuropeana.ro.
The growing importance of SNTGN Transgaz SA’s prestige at European level, supported by its management strategies, by the strategic investments made in the modernisation and development of the energy infrastructure, by its active participation in projects of regional and European interest and by dynamic partnerships with companies in the sector, was completed with the organisation of this Congress.
Partners in the organisation of the Congress were OMV Petrom, ROMGAZ, DELGAZ grid, CEEnergy News, INSPET, CIS GAZ, IRIGC IMPEX, SUTECH. The event was attended by high-level guests, including: CONSTANTIN DUDU IONESCU – State Counsellor, Presidential Administration, VIRGIL POPESCU – Deputy, Chamber of Deputies, Committee for Environment and Ecological Balance, ANTAL ISTVÁN-LORÁNT – Senator, Committee for Energy, Energetic Infrastructure and Mineral Resources, CRISTINA PRUNĂ – Deputy, Chamber of Deputies, Committee for Industries and Services, BENDE SANDOR – Deputy, Committee for Economy, Industries and Services, MIHNEA CLAUDIU DRUMEA – Secretary of State at the General Secretariat of the Government, DANIELA CÎMPEAN – President of Sibiu County Council, MIHAI LUPU – President of Constanta County Council, Mircea Dorin CREȚU – Prefect of Sibiu County, RĂZVAN POPESCU – Director General ROMGAZ, FRANCK NEEL – President of the Oil and Gas Employers Federation, KATERYNA KOVALENKO – Director of the Strategy Department LLC TSO of Ukraine, KLEOPATRA AVRAAM – Senior Manager Strategic Planning, DESFA Greece, KIRIL RAVNACHKI – Member of the Board of Administration Bulgartransgaz, MARKO JANICIJEVIC – Senior Sales Manager Gas Connect Austria GmbH, BASILIO PETKIDIS – CEO Mediterranean Gas SA, GABOR SZOKODI – Director for Trading and Business Development FGSZ Hungary, VADIM CEBAN – Chairman of the Board of Administration Moldovagaz, VASILE CÂRSTEA – Director General DEPOGAZ Ploiesti, CIPRIAN PĂLTINEANU – Director General INSPET, IOAN DAN GHEORGHIU – President CNR -CME, DUMITRU CHISĂLIȚĂ – President of Intelligent Energy Association, ADRIAN TĂNASE – Director General BVB, as well as His Excellency MOAYAD FATHALLAH MOHAMED EL DALIE – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Romania.
The Director General of SNTGN Transgaz SA, Mr. Ion STERIAN, declared on the occasion of the opening of the event:
“It is a great honour for Transgaz, for my colleagues in Transgaz, for the whole area of gas exploitation, transmission, distribution and supply, to have the license for this year to organize, here in Romania, the Central European Gas Congress. And it was not by chance that we chose the place where we organised it: Transylvania, because Transylvania is part of Central Europe. I would like to thank all the guests who attended and participated in this Congress, the ambassadors who made a great effort to travel from Bucharest to Sibiu, the other guests from the TSOs of Central Europe, the Balkans, Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary. I would like to thank all the partners who came together with us to organise this event. I am glad that together we have managed to put Romania once again on the rightful place on the European stage in the energy sector”.
Over the course of two days, in eight panels, delegates attending the Congress discussed current topics of real interest, such as: Diversification of natural gas supply sources and transmission routes in Central, South Eastern Europe and the Balkans, geostrategic uncertainty in the European energy market, the future of natural gas in the European energy mix in the medium and long term, strengthening European energy security, as well as the financing of investments in the development of gas infrastructure in Central, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, process optimisation in the energy industry using new digital technologies, hydrogen as a long-term and large-scale energy carrier and the LNG market in Central, Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
The topics have been chosen to cover all the important issues for the gas sector today, and for its medium and long term future, such as hydrogen. The central element of the topics is energy security, both from the perspective of diversification of supply sources and from the perspective of gas infrastructure development, so that collaboration between European Transmission System Operators is facilitated.
In the context of increasing energy security in gas supply at European level, diversification of gas supply sources and transmission routes are vectors for enhancing energy security and solidarity, and expertise and collaboration between European Transmission Operators becomes essential. Therefore, facilitating a framework for interaction at regional level was an opportunity to develop potential partnerships in the energy sector.
The venue was chosen with dual symbolism in mind: on the one hand, Sibiu was the city that put Romania on the European map several times, both when it was the European Capital of Culture and when it was the place that brought together European leaders when Romania held the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and on the other hand, it reminds us of the fact that the headquarters of SNTGN Transgaz SA is located in Mediaș, Sibiu county, and that the first natural gas transmission pipeline in our country and in Europe was built in the centre of the country in 1914.
In 2022, the Central European Natural Gas Congress was hosted by Slovakia and held under the aegis of the Slovak Gas and Oil Association and under the patronage of Eustream, the Slovakian company that is Transgaz’ counterpart. Transgaz has been granted a licence to organise the Central European Natural Gas Congress and to use its name and logo for a period of 12 months beginning with 1 July 2023.
sursă: caleaeuropeana.ro
