Under the IRT umbrella there are currently seven task forces focusing on different sectoral issues: Innovation, Building, Energy, Financial Services, Forest Industry, Transport and IT, Telecommunications and Space. The focus on the Task Forces is co-operation in the special industrial sector, not only at the level of industrial cooperation, business to business, but also to enhance the Governmental to Governmental dialogue

The Task Forces:

• play a crucial role in identifying, usually at a sectoral level, the most significant technical, administrative and customs barriers to mutual trade and investment, and formulating joint recommendations to address them
• present their sectoral recommendations to the IRT Council and the IRT Annual Conference, ensuring that recommendations are in line with the overall IRT objectives. Task Force recommendations are taken into consideration by the IRT Council and included in the Joint Conclusions of the IRT Annual Conference, representing practical steps for delivery of the overall IRT objectives
• play an active role in promoting direct contacts and ongoing dialogue between EU and Russian companies on business cooperation issues within specific industries and sectors
• cooperate with national, EU and international sectoral industry associations and unions
• take part in the official EU-Russia sectoral dialogues where appropriate

Click here for the Sectoral Recommendations to the IRT Council and IRT Annual Conference

Task Force - Innovation
Co-chairmen:
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo (Nokia Siemens Networks)
Anatoly Chubais (Rusnano)

Task Force Building
Co-chairman from the Russian Federation: Nikolay Koshman (Russian Builders Association)

Task Force Energy
Co-chairmen:
Gertjan Lankhorst (CEO, GasTerra)
Viktor Vekselberg (TNK-BP Management)

Contact details:

Mr Geert Greving, GasTerra. Email: geert.greving@gasterra.nl

Mr Oleg Rumyantsev, TNK-KP

The aim of the Energy Task Force is to support co-operation in the special industrial sector, not only at the level of industrial cooperation, business to business, but also to enhance the Governmental to Governmental dialogue. The IRT energy task force is trying to coordinate all statements and/or positions and to feed comprehensive energy statement into the overall sectoral recommendations of the IRT council, and to the official dialogue including the IRT council members’ meetings with the political leaders of the EU and Russia. 

One of the typical Governmental activities is the agreed energy dialogue between Russian and the EU, with a focus on energy scenarios, market organisation and energy efficiency. Here issues are addressed beyond business to business relations and are dealing with overall frameworks. In this region of debate, issues are tabled such as the use of the Energy Charter, Transit protocol or how to deal with energy emergency situation, as recently happened in the URK-RF gas-dispute. More information is to be found in the EU directive.

Energy is an overloaded issue in Europe, with a strong political dimension, and the energy dialogue is a well organized issue both within the EU and in Russia. The IRT Task Force is connected on EU side with Eurogas, Eurelectric and OGP. In Russia the IRT European side is even linked up with AEB-Energy, lead by Mr. Reiner Hartman, representing the European Energy Entrepreneurs in Russia. Eurogas has in addition an internal Russian Task force, working in close cooperation with the Russian Gas Society, lead by Duma member Mr. Yasef. The AEB in Moscow is dealing in depth with Russian up-stream business and in this respect is dealing with the VIAG, supporting the VIAG debate through PAF, Petroleum Advisory Forum (see their latest position). Also AEB is forwarding positions if it concerns the Russian European energy relation and for an overview click here.

In the structured area of the energy dialogue RF-EU many Russian and European companies are engaged in order to support the dialogue, with facts and figures, but also to support the dialogue with industrial expertise. An overview of related companies are can be found here.

 

Task Force - Forest Industry
Co-chairmen:
Jouko Karvinen (CEO, Stora Enso)
Zakhar Smushkin (ILIP Group)

Task Force - Transport
Co-chairmen:
Dr Rüdiger Grube (Chairman and CEO, Deutsche Bahn)
Vladimir Yakunin (Russian Railways)

Task Force - IT, Telecommunications and Space
Co-chair from the Russian Federation: Sergey Boev (AFK Sistema)

Task Force - Financial Services
Co-chairmen:
Guido Ravoet (Secretary General, European Banking Federation)
Garegin Tosunyan (Association of Russian Banks)

 

Contact

In case you would like to contact any of the abovementioned task forces, mail to: IRT@kelleneurope.com

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