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Energy Law in Russia: its Contemporary Stage of Development

Petr G. Lakhno, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor, Business Law Department, Law Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Editor-in-Chief, Energy Law Journal, Moscow, Russia

The article deals with the state and prospects of development of scientifi c research and teaching energy law disciplines as an integral part of higher legal education in the Russian Federation; challenges and trends the further development of science, education and legislation; outlines the main statements of legal practitioners and scholars of Russia at conferences on energy law in 2013.

The year of 2013 undoubtedly may be called a landmark year in the development of energy law in Russia - as a branch of law, a branch of legislation, a scientific trend and an academic subject.

The first issue of the Energy Law journal came out ten years ago. The initiator of  issuing the journal on  legal regulation of energy was V.V.Grib, Editor-in-Chief of the Jurist Publishing Group, Deputy Secretary of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. At that time, the journal was called Legal Issues of Power Engineering because even the initiator of issuing the journal  found it difficult to accept the term “energy law”, and some representatives of traditional branches of law ironically called it “exotic law”. The second issue of the journal in 2004 was also unique. It had a double name “Energy Law. Legal Issues of Power Engineering”.

Ten years have passed. Now Lomonosov Moscow State University has established the Scientific and Educational Centre (SEC) called the MSU Neftegazovy Tsentr (“Oil and Gas Centre”) where some questions of energy law are researched and taught. The special course "Energy Law and Politics" was first taught at the law faculty more than 25 years ago. For the last six years, it has been a subject of the inter-departmental special course called “Energy Law and Legal Protection of Environment” read by the Department of Ecology and Land Law; besides , there is also a corresponding Master’s Degree programme.

Kutafin Moscow State University of Law has established the Institute of Energy Law which is headed by Nadezhda Borisovna Pastukhova [1] and set up the Energy Law Department (the only one in Russia). The head of the department is a representative of the Saint Petersburg school of law[2] Viktoriya Valeryevna Romanova, who is the first Doctor of Law in Russia in the 12.00.07 specialization – corporate law; energy law. Well-known legal practitioners concerned about legal regulation of the energy sphere are working at this department. Nowadays, the University is in the forefront of developing this area of science and teaching energy law disciplines[3].

Moscow State Institute of International Relations - MGIMO University of the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established the International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy, with the department of Legal Regulation of the Fuel and Energy Complex  headed by Professor and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.F.Yakovlev. In 2013, the Master’s Degree programme in “Legal Regulation of International Energy Cooperation” was started there[4].

Master’s Degree programmes in Energy Law are also taught at the law faculty of Saint Petersburg University, the Russian University of People’s Friendship, the National Research University – the Higher School of Economics, the Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after I.M.Gubkin, the Southern Ural State University and others. By now, disciplines related to energy law regulation are taught at more than ten law schools of Russia. However, we should mention that the total number of Russian higher schools teaching energy law does not exceed 10.

Among positive trends, we can name the issue of Decree No.5 of January 10, 2012 of the RF Ministry of Education and Science which introduced a new scientific specialization of 12.00.07 – corporate law; energy law. Some higher schools of law have established post-graduate courses in the above mentioned specialization; and Dissertation Councils have recently been set up as well.

Thus, we are witnessing, creating and developing energy law in the Russian Federation[5].

On June 7, 2013 the law school at Lomonosov MSU held the Second Annual All-Russia  Research-to-Practice  Conference called “Law and Business” devoted to the 75th anniversary of Professor Anatoly Grigorievich Bykov, the founder and the first Head of Business Law Department of the law school at the Lomonosov MSU. Topical issues of energy law were discussed by the working group in “Energy Law and Politics in the XXI Century”[6].

We are especially pleased and inspired that a lot of  lawyers of younger generations – under- and post-graduates –are involved in energy law matters and shared their views during the work of the group. The conference was rather successful also due to the fact that younger lawyers took part in the competition[7] named after Pavel Bakulev[8] and held by the DLA Piper company and the law school of Lomonosov MSU. The competition was called “The Influence of International Energy Rules on the Establishment and Development of Energy Law in Russia”. The results of the competition determined three winners who were awarded a prize named after Pavel Bakulev. The first prize was 3,500 USD and a two-week study trip to the Moscow office of DLA Piper,  the second runner-up received 2,500 USD and a two-week study trip to the Moscow office of DLA Piper, and the third runner-up received 1,500 US dollars.

In 2014, a new competition has been announced, and its topic is: Oil and Energy Complex of Russia: My Vision of Major Problems of Legal Regulation.

We are confident that with time passing, the leading law journals will publish scientific articles, and the most prestigious publishing houses will publish books of those lawyers who started with us.

After energy law as a new academic specialization was approved, the publication of the textbook “Energy Law. General Part” prepared by V.V.Romanova was seen as an outstanding achievement. There are also such significant works as “Energy Law and Energy Policy of the European Union”, “Energy Law and Energy Policy of North American Countries”[9] written by Professor R.A.Kurbanov,  a leading experts in energy law in Russia,  Head of the Civil and Labour Law Department at the Russian State Economic University named after G.V.Plekhanov and a leading researcher of the Business Law Sector at the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

We would like to pay your attention to two most successful scientific conferences in 2013 related to energy law. The first  was the All-Russian Research-to-Practice   Conference entitled “Energy Legislation: Topical Issues of Its Application” which was held on October 22, 2013 at  the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The second one was the International Research-to-Practice   Conference called “Legal Regulation in the Sphere of Energy and Heat Supply” held on December 13, 2013 at the Gazprom Energoholding LLC[10]. The conference was organized by Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSLA), the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE), the RF Public Chamber, the Gazprom-Energoholding LLC, the Yurist Publishing House and others. Many representatives of the Law Faculty of the Moscow State University named after M.V.Lomonosov, the Moscow State University of International Relations of the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian Academy of Justice, the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Science, state organs, law enforcement bodies and representatives of the Russian business society took part in this conference.

The organizers of the conference invited heads of law departments of leading energy companies, such as the Gazprom OJSC, the Rosneft Oil Complex OJSC, the LUKOIL OJSC, the Rosatom State Corporation on Atomic Energy, the Tyumenskaya energosbytovaya OJSC (Tyumen Energy Supply Company), the SUEK OJSC, the Rossiyskiye seti OJSC (the Russian Network Company), the FSK EES OJSC, the Mosenergo OJSC, the Inter RAO EES OJSC, the Sistemny operator Yedinoy energeticheskoy sistemy OJSC (The System Operator of the Uniform Energy System), and others. For example, the reports made by Russian leading legal scholars demonstrate how topical the discussed issues of energy law are, how important it is to take into account the acquired practical experience, trends in the national legislation change, the experience of international legal regulation and the energy law of foreign countries.

The moderator of the conference was V.V.Romanova, Doctor of Law, Head of Energy Law Department of Kutafin Moscow State Law University. (MSLA). In her opening speech at the conference on December 23, 2013 V.V.Romanova thanked the organizers and participants of the conference for support and assistance in the preparation for the conference which is an important step in the development of energy law. She spoke about the first efforts made by her department and the tasks put forward for the department which is still improving its work. The main task before the department is consistent and systematic preparation of academic, methodical, research and practical materials on energy law, taking into account the dynamically developing energy legislation. Professor V.V.Romanova underlined that it was the first time in 2013 that the Kutafin University enrolled post-graduate students in the 12.00.07 specialization – corporate law; energy law. A big number of such students who wish to continue their research in the sphere of energy law proves that this specialization was included in the Nomenclature of Specializations of Scientific Workers in good time, and that the interest in different aspects of legal regulation in the sphere of energy law both on national and international level is growing.

The welcoming speech to the participants of the conference was made by the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE), Doctor of Economics, Professor A.N.Shokhin. He emphasized that the RUIE, as well as all Russian business, find the energy policy and energy law to be one of the main trends in their activities. A.N.Shokhin says that energy law will continue to be a priority not only in the near future but also for a long time. The policy and tasks put forward in the sphere of energy law make it necessary for all scientific and research community, as well as state power and business, to hold conferences on such a high level. The RUIE President also underlined that civil legislation which is being improved now considerably affects interests of energy companies. “While improving the legislation, we should realize how it will affect the key sectors of economy”, emphasized Alexander Nikolaevich Shokhin. So far, the business community has managed to slow down the process of adopting the new version of the RF Civil Code so that the legislation regulating the business activities among other types can take into account legal rights and interests of the business community. In this connection, he focused everyone’s attention on the fact that if interests of the power engineering sector as an area of business activities are ignored, the new version of the RF CC will not be effective.

The RUIE President also spoke about the development of energy sphere and the influence of such trends on geopolitics: “A few years ago the world had doubts about the successful use of shale gas and shale oil. Nowadays, the USA is on the way to become independent in respect to energy, thus influencing the changes in the geopolitics”.

A.N.Shokhin also touched upon such important questions as the improvement of fiscal policy of the state, access of foreign companies to the raw materials base on the shelf,  environmental  protection, including new methods of extraction of energy resources (shale gas and shale oil), the so-called “hydraulic fracturing”.

It should be mentioned that it is not possible to speak about energy law without having a clear idea of environmental law, and vice versa, to be concerned about environmental  law without understanding energy law. In respect to problems of energy efficiency and energy supply, the RUIE President underlined that mechanisms prescribed by existing laws (and bylaws) do not work well with here.

A.N.Shokhin paid special attention to the necessity to classify energy companies depending on whether they are domestic or foreign (but not as it is now with the division into state and private companies). Therefore, it should be said that representatives of oil business and, in particular, the President of the first private vertically-integrated oil company (VIOC) – LUKOIL OJSC – V.U.Alekperov have been speaking about  the necessity to introduce  a new notion of “a national energy company” for a long time.

A.N.Shokhin underlined that it is important to keep a balance between supervision/ control mechanisms in power engineering and economic incentives, to search for a balance between technical supervision and self-regulation in legal regulation of energy-related activities. He pointed out that “recently there has been a discussion about natural monopolies and mechanisms of public control; therefore, it is necessary to significantly change the legal basis in this sphere. It is important to have optimal balance of interests of businesses, regions and consumers”. All this should be reflected in energy law which is one of the youngest trends in the development of the Russian system of law. There are many ways in which energy law can be developed and improved. And the task of the conference is to determine such ways and fill them with  real tasks.

The RF President Advisor, Professor V.F.Yakovlev paid considerable attention to the analysis of the discussed category – energy law. He said:

“Law itself, including energy law, is a considerable value and an important tool. It is the only means to provide a balance of interests. It is an antipode of violence. Law is a peaceful means of solving topical issues in the correlation of interests”.

Without discussing the essence of energy law (as a branch of law as well as a branch of legislation, a science and a subject) V.F.Yakovlev rightly noted that energy law is undoubtedly an important sphere of legal regulation:

“Energy industry is number one in our economy. Nowadays it is one of the sources of forming the budget and solving social tasks. Therefore the law in this sphere must be carefully elaborated. Energy law is a complicated industry where many traditional areas are involved, where there is a combination of private and public interests and where there is international legal cooperation. Thus we must provide a balance of interests in this sphere”.

As to the division of companies into national/domestic and foreign companies, V.F.Yakovlev underlined that it is of vital importance “to see whether the national company is a really national company which protects national interests or it just pretends to be one”. To support this position,  V.F.Yakovlev referred to the example of one of the largest German companies – Bosch – which in essence is a limited liability company (Gesellschaftmitbeschrankter Haftung). In his opinion, it is difficult to determine and guarantee the nationality of joint-stock companies (most large Russian energy companies are of this type), and their shares may be distributed all over the world.

Deputy Minister of the RF Power Engineering Sector  A.Y.Inyutsyn spoke about legal regulation of energy saving and the increase in energy efficiency in the sphere of economy. He noted that there are two ways to decrease energy intensity of economy: 1) an economic way which can be reached, in particular, by an increase in prices for energy resources; and 2) state regulation. To increase the energy efficiency of economy, lawyers should work hard not to violate the parity of the state and business, and there must be an intelligent regional policy, including the elaboration of special programmes to increase energy efficiency.

The Chairman of the Federal Commercial Court of the Central District O.M.Sviridenko said that “if the trials are to be handled by lawyers well-trained in the energy sphere, disputes will be solved within the framework of legality”. And it would be good if judges also knew some peculiarities of energy law. O.M.Sviridenko described this conference as the “hymn to energy law”. He offered the Kutafin MSLU to conclude a mutually beneficial agreement on cooperation, since theory and practice go hand in hand.

Without minimizing the importance of other speakers at the conference, we would like to underline that reports made by the Rector of Kutafin Moscow State Law University  , Professor V.V.Blazheyev; the Director of the Institute of State and Law of the RAS, the RAS academician A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov; and the Head of Civil Law Department of the Russian Academy of Justice, Professor V.K.Andreev may be called landmark achievements in the development of energy law as a scientific conception in the contemporary Russia and the organization of teaching energy law disciplines and training of lawyers in the sphere of power engineering.

In this connection, we would like to provide you with a more detailed description of their reports. Professor V.V.Blazheyev told the participants about teaching Energy Law within the walls of the Kutafin MSLU headed by him. He noted that energy law has many aspects: it combines education and science and law enforcement practice.

“Our economy is focused on power engineering, therefore, we need lawyers trained in this sphere”, he said. The idea to teach Energy Law at the Kutafin MSLU appeared in 2009, together with the introduction of the new educational standard. In a year, in 2010, the Institute of Energy Law was created,  and in 2013 they established the  Department of Energy Law. The conception of the university development provides for an opportunity to create a mechanism of advanced specialization not only in different branches of law, but in certain directions of legal activities.

V.V.Blazheyev paid attention to the fact that the classical university education (when undergraduate students are educated in different branches of law, and most departments at the Russian law higher schools follow this principle) does not teach students to apply interdisciplinary knowledge, therefore, the period of adjustment of graduates takes a long time:

 “We have determined that energy law is one of the directions where an interdisciplinaryand integrated approach is applied. We have introduced specializations not in traditional branches of law but in certain directions of the activities”.

At the same time, the MSLU students majoring in energy law are taught in full compliance with the educational standard, according to which the University is obliged to teach the basic  part   in keeping with federal standards, while the optional part is determined by the University. The Rector mentioned that the MSLU Institute of Energy Law teaches about 18 complex disciplines connected with energy law, with 70% of the curriculum being the basic part – “that everyone must know”. Thus, upon graduation, we hope to get a lawyer with the fundamental level of training and ready to work in energy-related spheres.

Rector V.V.Blazheyev noted that the educational standard presupposes active involvement of legal practitioners in the teaching process, which is well ensured at  MSLU named after O.E.Kutafin:

“Practice makes the training of students more practice-oriented. Now it has quite a formal character. We are facing a very important task of introducing practice into the teaching process. We actively change the curriculum trying to find time for practical training. This is how we train specialists for the Prosecutor’s Office”.

To provide such practice-focused training of lawyers, we must have different agreements with employers (for example, during the conference on October 22, 2013  Kutafin MSLU  and the Gazprom Energoholding OJSC signed an agreement on strategic cooperation). V.V.Blazheyev emphasized that in teaching Energy Law, a lot, depends on who teaches and who is taught. People from the energy sphere should become students of the university.

Among measures aimed at better training of lawyers, we should speak about the following: the university has established the  Department of Energy Law; the department has attracted many legal practitioners who are recognized experts in this sphere, and many of them have an academic degree; there is a possibility to continue education in the post-graduate courses and go on  to get a Doctor’s degree; a lot of work is done to attract foreign specialists to teach special courses and workshops. Programmes of additional education are an important trend in the training of lawyers.

Other law schools, in particular those which claim to be leading schools of higher education, should follow the example of  Kutafin MSLU. In the current economic and political situation, it is high time to make the process of teaching law at higher educational establishments consistent with real practice requirements. To illustrate this point, we would like to refer to the fact that among 200 law schools in the USA accredited by ABA, more than 80 law schools  teach energy law-related subjects and have fundamental scientific and practical publications on energy law[11]. Many law schools of the European Union countries teach Energy Law as a separate subject. Leaders in this respect are Germany, Norway, and others[12].

The Director of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the RAS Academician, Professor A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov pointed out some problems which require scientific research.

In particular, he said:

“The contemporary Russian legislation in the sphere of power engineering is a huge volume of many-level regulatory enactments which do not eliminate numerous gaps in the legal regulation and still require serious systematization. The new history of this legislation development has existed for more than 20 years; thus, taking into account the law enforcement practice in this area, we can speak about the established branch of law – energy law”.

Describing energy law, A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov underlined that such objective factors as its comparative novelty for the national legal system, a complex character of relationships requiring legal regulation, and finally their importance for Russia as a state, have set  new tasks for the development of all branches of law in all directions – on the level of legislation and law enforcement, as a doctrine and an academic subject.

In the opinion of A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov, energy law by its contents is a difficult legal complex regulating the relationships  in the sphere of exploration and extraction of energy resources, production, processing, supply, storage, transportation and sale of different types of energy, design and construction of energy objects, and energy security. At the same time, he underlined is the  necessity to take into account the transboundary character of these relationships. Speaking about the importance and complexity of the tasks before the legal science in the energy sphere, Academician A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov emphasized that

“only a series of large-scale research makes it possible to characterize all the above mentioned spheres of legal regulation and to fully describe what has to be researched to improve the legislation – and not only the legislation, but the entire system of law. We consider that the Russian science has already begun solving such an urgent task and that the topical issues discussed at the conference will be elaborated in further publications”. Then he compared the significance of energy legislation for Russia with fundamental legal acts:

 “We unintentionally tend to compare our expectations with the expectations from the adoption of the RF CC in the 1990s, which was called “the second Constitution” in the conditions of the first stage of reforms of the Russian legislation”.

When speaking about the grounds connected with the development of a branch of law, it is necessary to consider some obligatory conditions. As to energy law, A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov thinks that such factors are: constitutional grounds for the relationships in the area; the character of the main or initial legal act to regulate relationships in the sphere of energy and to take into account peculiarities of other sources of law typical of this branch; the status of legal persons; the correlation of private and public legal regulation; the cooperation of national and international legal regulation in the conditions of globalization; opportunities for effective protection of the participants’ rights.

The development of energy law has considerably been influenced by the federation principle of  government and the legal system of the country. Pursuant to Article 71 para (i) of the RF Constitution, the Russian Federation solely possesses federal energy systems, nuclear power engineering and fissionable materials; while pursuant to Article 72 Part 1 para (c), the questions of ownership, use, distribution of land, subsoil, water and other natural resources belong to the combined possession of the Russian Federation and the RF subjects. The combination of exclusive and combined competence requires a special approach in the development of legal regulation of the energy complex.

In the opinion of A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov, the consistent development of energy legislation should take into account the fact that unlike many other countries, Russia is a major energy producer and at the same time a major energy consumer. Its position in the world, as well as its energy resources which it owns and creates have not only economic but also military and political dimensions.

Taking into account that the RF Constitution has proclaimed that natural resources are the basis for human life and activities and the state has a social character, the carefully calculated balance of interests and rights of investors and the public must become another peculiarity of the Russian energy law.

Speaking about the legislation of the subsurface use, part of which concerns the sphere of energy, the RF RAS Academician A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov said that “looking at the legislation, I feel sad”. He referred to  an interesting fact: the existing RF Act “On Subsurface” regulating the matters of exploration and extraction of energy resources which was adopted in 1992 and which, in its current version, comprises more than 70 articles, while the Mining Code of the Russian Empire had more than 1500 articles! “If we just compare these numbers, what gaps in the legislation can we speak about? These are not gaps but a real catastrophe!”

A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov spoke about such sources of legal regulation as acts of self-regulating organizations and local acts of legal entities. He pointed out that “the issue of their recognition in their law enforcement practice, including the judicial practice as well, is more than topical”.

As to anti-monopoly regulation in the energy sphere, he mentioned that

“…at present, the Russian doctrine and the Russian practice are at the very beginning of their development in comparison with Europe, let alone the US… As soon as we leave the boundaries of the Russian Federation, we are sure to face the problems of anti-damping and duties. Our practice is far from being able to solve such problems”.

As for borrowing foreign experience of legal regulation in the sphere of energy, Academician A.G.Lisitsyn-Svetlanov noted that

“…it is impossible to simply borrow what exists abroad because we will not find objective data typical of Russia – there is no analogy. Foreign experience may be perceived as an example to follow, a method, but it cannot be completely copied and transferred into the Russian reality”. The European experience does not suit because it is based on natural differences in the environment; the American experience is based on another legal system. It is possible for the systems to cooperate from the viewpoint of understanding and borrowing individual institutes of law. The importance of considering  general trends of the world energy market is emphasized by the peculiarity of the Russian legal energy system, and namely, by the fact that it is export-oriented. Therefore, it is necessary for the country to be actively involved in international legal regulation where Russia can not only support initiatives but, on the contrary, oppose them. It is more sensible to initiate ideas and take active actions to shape new trends of development.

He underlined that stable relationships in the sphere of power engineering are closely connected with the problem of reliable protection of rights, inter alia, in the form of arbitration proceedings:

 “The problems related to the sphere of power engineering have such a peculiar character that they can hardly be  solved  on the basis of general judicial methods. It is the arbitration proceedings that have to be better developed in this sphere. However, one should remember that the scope of arbitration proceedings is limited if there is a collision of public and private interests”[13].

Further development of energy law as a science and an academic subject was dwelt upon by one of the leading scholars of the contemporary Russia, the Head of Civil Law Department of the Russian Academy of Justice, Honoured Worker of the RF Science, Professor V.K.Andreev:

 “I am proud to be one of the initiators to include energy law into the Nomenclature of Specializations of workers… It is necessary to provide more room for new branches of law to appear rather than to determine the position of the new branch in relation to basic branches of law. I think that the only criterion to distinguish a new branch of law as a separate collection of rules and acts is the object of legal regulation which can be determined by specific characteristics of a particular group of public relationships in a certain type of activities. A course in  Energy Law  must become an integral part of the strategic development of the Russian science and education to have a better and deeper understanding of energy law problems. It is necessary to make the Energy Law course an obligatory subject in law schools and faculties all over Russia. The adoption of the energy code should not be the final stage in the development of energy law; however, it is necessary to pass a unified law on power engineering. Such a law should determine the scope of energy legislation and set up basic legal institutes of this independent branch of law”[14].

Like many other participants, the Corresponding Member of the RF Academy of Sciences V.P.Chichkanov spoke about the significance of power engineering. He said that

“…the energy sector of any state is a fundamental basis for life support. It is a powerful tool for regulating both external and internal factors in the development of the country”.

Considering energy law as an economist, he made a few statements. First, he emphasized that the key to success, in the fuel-energy complex among others, is stability of management and continuity of political initiative. Second, what matters is planning and forecasting of social and economic development of the country. In particular, he pointed out that, first, it is necessary to agree on the strategy of the country development on the whole and only then to adopt the development strategy of different spheres of economic activities. V.K.Chichkanov also emphasized that new laws have never changed the life of citizens, therefore, attention should mostly be given to executive power. In this connection, he suggested  adopting a law on the accountability of the government authorities, with different criteria of their efficiency to be worked out. He also spoke about matters of better state and public safety, including energy safety.

The Director General of the Gazprom Energoholding LLC D.V.Fyodorov said that the energy sphere is very attractive for investments. One of the main priorities of power engineering development is its innovative character. However, in his view, Russia does not have a legislative basis in the sphere of innovative development:

“The lack of common terminology, as well as lack of special legal rules in the legislation of innovative development, significantly hampers the innovative development of economic entities and the state economy on the whole”. D.V.Fyodorov noted that Russia “has no organ that would be empowered to grant different projects the status of “innovative” ones, and there are no criteria to be applied in granting such a status. Such a body is to perform its functions, following the principle of “one window” and to provide equal rights and equal selection criteria to all participants of the market”.

He spoke about the necessity to find mechanisms for innovative activity support and return on investments directed  for innovations: “Companies which implement innovative projects should receive “a reward for innovations”. For example, an increased tax on power capacity”. D.V.Fyodorov also said that young highly qualified lawyers are in big demand in the sphere of energy.

Deputy Secretary of the RF Public Chamber, Editor-in-Chief of the Yurist Publishing Group, Professor V.V.Grib spoke about matters of public control and energy policy. He underlined that we must have public control over the government activities not to allow the government to follow the rule that “our people are our second oil”. In particular, he spoke about various forms of public control, about the necessity to establish public councils at federal bodies of executive power as well as public councils of consumers at large state monopolies (including the sphere of fuel-energy complex). V.V.Grib mentioned that “we need a few hundred specialists in different regions who would work as volunteers” to make the work of such councils effective.

The member of the board, Head of the Legal Department of Inter RAO OJSC A.A.Pakhomov said it was  important to further develop energy legislation, paying special attention to the most topical issues of legal regulation in different areas of power engineering, including the sphere of electric power engineering. In his report, A.A.Pakhomov pointed out the existing gaps and discrepancies in legal regulation, including legal regulation of relationships on the wholesale market of electric power and capacity as well as on the retail market of electric power. A special emphasis was made on the necessity to increase the quality of the professional training of lawyers in the sphere of power engineering. He said that it was extremely topical to conduct scientific research on different issues of energy law.

Sharing the views of other participants, Editor-in-Chief of the Energeticheskoye Pravo (Energy Law) journal, Assistant Professor of the Business Law Department of the Law Faculty of Lomonosov MSU, Candidate of Law P.G.Lakhno underlined that it was necessary to hold such conferences, saying that “for the last 20 years, the present conference has been the first in authority and of such a high level”.

The first conference in the new Russia was held in the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions in 1994. It was organized on the initiative of the then Minister of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation Y.K.Shafranik. It was an international research-to-practice conference entitled “Energy and Law”. It concerned legal regulation in the sphere of energy and had an impressive representation. Many specialists from more than 40 leading energy countries and international organizations took part in the conference. Materials of the conference were used in further scientific research and applied in practice.

Head of the Business Law Department of the Law Faculty at MSU, Professor A.G.Bykov spoke about the necessity to elaborate and adopt the Energy Code of the Russian Federation[15]. The offer made by A.G.Bykov was welcomed by the energy community. However, the Russian legislation still has no such a fundamental document as the Energy Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, it is worth mentioning that most industrialized countries in the world have adopted such acts, i.e. the Energy Policy Act in the USA, the Energiewirtschaftsgesetz (the Act on Energy Economy) in Germany.

P.G.Lakhno paid attention of the conference participants to the necessity to conduct scientific research and determine basic fundamental notions of energy law, such as energy, power engineering, energy markets, etc. He said that it was not an easy task because

“…energy is a collective term. Mere energy just does not exist  because there are various types of energy, for example, electrical energy, but what is gravitational energy? How to regulate such relationships?”

P.G.Lakhno said that “an objective phenomenon is the fact that power engineering in the XXI century has come to the forefront, and its development cannot be curbed”.

“We distinguish energy law as a separate scientific specialization due to the exclusive role of business in the power engineering sphere, the peculiarity of the goods – energy – which is closely connected with natural resources, their extraction from the subsoil and transmission of this energy to consumers through the connected network. It is necessary to elaborate theoretical fundamentals of energy law to create an integrated codified act, some sort of energy code, the necessity of which is accounted for, inter alia, by the active participation of the Russian Federation in international cooperation in energy resource use, creation and modernization of the contemporary energy infrastructure”[16].

In current conditions, when legal issues of power engineering have received significant attention, and energy law is a scientific specialization included in the Nomenclature of Scientific Specializations by the RF Ministry; scientific specialization passports have been made; leading higher schools include energy law disciplines in their curriculum; special dissertation councils have been established, I am coming up with the initiative to raise a question before appropriate state bodies to conduct an international research-to- conference “Power Engineering and Law” on a high state level. And legal representatives must act as initiators in these important matters.

The composition and level of our conference, the contents of  questions raised at the conference demonstrate that we have sufficient forces and willingness to organize such a conference on the highest level possible. The experience of conducting similar conferences in other countries under the auspices of authoritative international organizations demonstrates their positive influence on the development and improvement of energy legislation.



[1] N.B. Pastukhova. Novaia zhizn energeticheskogo prava [New Life of Energy Law]// Yurist [Lawyer]. 2011. No.11; N.B. Pastukhova. Organizatsiia i prepodavanie energo-pravovykh distsiplin v Institute energeticheskogo prava MGUA imeni O.E. Kutafina: opyt i perspektivy. [Organization and Teaching of Energy Law Disciplines in the Institute of Energy Law at the MSLU named after O.E.Kutafin: Experience and Prospects]// Energeticheskoe pravo [Energy Law]. 2013, No. 2, pp. 9 – 11.

[2] V.V. Romanova. Pravovoe regulirovanie stroitelstva i modernizatsii energeticheskikh obyektov//Dissertatsiia na soiskanie stepeni doktora yuridicheskikh nauk [Legal Regulation of Construction and Modernization of Energy Objects// Dissertation for the Degree of the Doctor of Law]. Saint Petersburg, 2012.

[3] V.V. Blazheyev. O formirovanii energeticheskogo prava kak sostavnoi’ chasti vysshego yuridicheskogo obrazovaniya: V sbornike materialov nauchno-prakticheskoi’ konferentsii “Pravovoe regulirovanie v sfere eletroenergetiki i teplosnabzheniya” [On the Formation of Energy Law as a Constituent Part of Higher Legal Education: Collected Articles of Scientific and Practical Conference “Legal Regulation in the Sphere of Electrical Power Engineering and Heat Supply”]. Yurist Publishing Group, Moskow, 2013, pp. 6 – 9.

[4] L.I.Shevchenko, A.I. Grishchenko. Opyt razrabotki i realizatsii magisterskoi’ programmy “Pravovoe obespechenie mezhdunarodno – energeticheskogo sotrudnichestva [Experience in Developing and Implementing the Master’s Degree Programme “Legal Regulation of International Energy Cooperation”]// Energeticheskoye pravo [Energy Law]. 2013, No. 2, pp. 19 – 21.

[5] V.S. Belykh. Zakon ob energetike kak pravovaia osnova dlia Rossiyskoii natsional'noii ekonomicheskoii bezopasnosti [Energy Law as a Legal Basis for Russian National Economic Security]// Rossiiskoe Pravo: teoriia i praktika [Russian Law: Theory and Practice]. 2010. No. 1, p. 98 – 102; A.P. Vershinin. Energeticheskoye pravo. Uchebno-prakticheskii kurs [Energy Law. Educational and Practical Course]. St.P, 2007; V.F. Popondopulo. Energeticheskoe pravo i energeticheskoe zakonodatelstvo: obshchaia kharakteristika, tendetsii razvitiia [Energy Law and Energy Legislation: Overview and Future Development Trends]// Pravovedeniye [Jurisprudence]. 2007. No. 3 (272). pp. 3 – 12; E.P. Gubin. Gosudarstvennoe regulirovanie otnoshenii’ v sfere neftegazovogo kompleksa Rossii: pravovye voprosy [State Regulation of Relations in the Sphere of Oil and Gas Complex of Russia: Points of Law]// Energetika i pravo [Power Engineering and Law]// Edited by P.G. Lakhno. Moskow, 2008, p. 288 – 295; P.G. Lakhno. Energeticheskoye pravo – chto eto takoe? [Energy Law – What is It ?]// Energetika i pravo [Power Engineering and Law]. 2nd edition. Edited by P.G. Lakhno. Moskow, 2009, p. 40 – 58; Energeticheskoye pravo Rossii i Germanii: sravnitelno-pravovoe issledovanie [Energy Law of Russia and Germany: Law Comparative Research]// Edited by P.G. Lakhno, F.Y. Zekker. Moskow, 2011; O.A. Gorodov. Vvedenie v energeticheskoe pravo [Introduction into Energy Law]. Textbook. Moskow, 2012; Energeticheskoye pravo i energoeffektivnost v Germanii i Rossii [Energy Law and Energy Efficiency in Germany and Russia]// Edited by B. Holtsnagel, L.V. Sannikova. Moskow, 2013; R.A. Kurbanov. Energeticheskoye pravo i energeticheskaia politika Evropeiskogo soyuza [Energy Law and Energy Policy of the European Union] Moskow, 2013; V.V. Romanova. Energeticheskoe pravo. Obschaia chast: uchebnoye posobiye [Energy Law. General Part: Textbook]. Moskow, 2013; P.G. Lakhno. Energeticheskoye pravo Rossii: ponyatie i sushchnost. Rossiyskaia model energeticheskogo prava. Novoe v pravovom regulirovanii biznessa [Energy Law in Russia: Concept and Substance. The Russian Model of Energy Law. Novelty in Legal Regulation of  Business]. Moskow, 2013; P.G. Lakhno. Nauchnie issledovaniia i prepodavanie energeticheskogo prava v Rossii i za rubezhom. Gazovyi’ bizness [Scientific Research and Teaching Energy Law in Russia and abroad. Gas Business]. Zhurnal Russkogo gazovogo obshchestva [Russian Gas Society Magazine]. 2013, No. 6, pp. 38 – 51; R.A. Kurbanov. Energeticheskoe pravo i energeticheskaia politika stran Severnoy Ameriki [Energy Law and Energy Policy of the North American Countries]. Moskow, 2014, etc.

[6] See: Energy Law. 2013, No. 2. With materials of the working group.

[7] See: Articles published by the participants of the competition: A.Kh. Ulbashev. Problemy vliianiia mezhdunarodnogo energeticheskogo zakona o razvitii energeticheskogo prava v Rossii [Problems of Influence of International Energy Law on the Development of Energy Law in Russia]; S.V. Kozlov. Vliyanie mezhdunarodnykh pravil energii na razvitie energeticheskogo prava v Rossii [Influence of International Energy Rules on the Development of Energy Law in Russia]; Y.A. Shabalina. Politicheskie i ekonomicheskie faktory vliyaniia na kharakter pravovykh aktov RF i YES v sfere energetiki [Political and Economic Factors of Influence on the Character of Legal Regulations of the RF and EU in the Sphere of Energy]; A.V. Trantin. Energeticheskii‘ zakon v SSHA [On the Energy Law in the USA]; D.G. Karapotkin. Osobennosti Energeticheskogo prava prepodavaniya v Velikobritanii [Peculiarities of Teaching Energy Law in Great Britain]; D.A. Mukhamedzyanova. Kontrakty po obsluzhivaniu Energiei‘ v neftianoy i gazovoi‘ sfere: opyt Rossii i zarubezhnykh stran [Energy Service Contracts in the Oil And Gas Sphere: The Experience of Russia and Foreign Countries]; A.A. Ivanov. Kontrakty po predvaritelnomu obsluzhivaniu. Sistema dogovornykh otnoshenii‘ neftianykh i gazovykh kompanii‘ Rossii na stadii razvedki i dobychi uglevodorodnogo syr'ia [Upstream Service Contracts . The System of Contract Relations of Oil and Gas Companies of Russia at the Stage of Exploration and Extraction of Hydrocarbon Raw Materials]// Zakon ob energetike [Energy law]. 2013, No. 2.

[8] Pavel Bakulev was born in Moscow. He graduated, with honours, from the law department of MSU. He also completed a Master’s Degree course in the USA. In 2005, he became a partner of the Moscow office of the DLA Piper company. Pavel was a famous lawyer in Russia as well as other countries majoring in energy law. Pavel Bakulev died in an accident in the Alps on January 5, 2011. In memory of Pavel Bakulev, the DLA Piper company and his colleagues established an annual grant named after Pavel Bakulev in the Lomonosov MSU where Pavel received legal education.

[9] R.A. Kurbanov. Energeticheskoe pravo i energeticheskaia politika Evropei’skogo soyuza [Energy Law and Energy Policy of the European Union]. Moscow, 2013; R.A. Kurbanov. Energeticheskoe pravo i energeticheskaia politika stran Severnoi’ Ameriki [Energy Law and Energy Policy of the North America countries]. Moscow, 2014.

[10] See: Sbornik statei‘ nauchno –  prakticheskoi‘ konferentsii “Pravovoe regulirovanie v sfere elektroenergetiki i teplosnabzheniia” [A Collection of Articles of the Scientific and Practical Conference “Legal Regulation in the Sphere of Electric Power Engineering and Heat Supply”]. Pravovoe regulirovanie v sfere electroenergetiki i teplosnabzheniia [Pravovoye regulirovaniye v sfere electroenergetiki i teplosnabzheniya]// Yurist Publishing Group, Moscow, 2013.

 [11] See: J.E. Hickey Jr., S.G. Kelly, M.E. Mansfield, J.P. Tomain, D.N. Zillman. Energeticheskoe pravo i politika v 21 veke. Gruppa energeticheskogo prava [Energy Law and Policy for the 21 Century. The Energy Law Group]. Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. Denver, Colorado, 2000.

[12] M. Roggenkamp, C. Redgwell, I. delGuayo and A. Ronne. Zakon ob energetike v Yevrope: natsional'nye , evrosoyuznye i mezhdunarodne otnosheniia [Energy Law in Europe: National, EU and International Relations]. Second edition, Oxford University Press, 2007.

[13] See: A.V. Zamaziy. Razreshenie chastno-pravovykh sporov v sfere electroenergetiki: preimushchestva tretei’skogo razbiratelstva. Sbornik materialov nauchno-prakticheskoi’ konferentsii “Pravovoe regulirovanie v sfere electroenergetiki i teplosnabzheniya” [Private Legal Dispute Settlement in the Sphere of Electric Power Engineering: Advantages of Arbitration Proceedings. Collection of Materials of the Scientific and Practical Conference Entitled “Legal Regulation in the Sphere of Electric Power Engineering and Heat Supply”]. Yurist Publishing Group, Moscow, 2013.

[14] V.K. Andreev. O dalnei’shem razvitii energeticheskogo prava kak nauki i kak uchebnoi’ distsipliny: Sbornik materialov nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii “Pravovoe regulirovanie v sfere electroenergetiki i teplosnabzheniya” [On Further Development of Energy Law as a Science and as an Academic Subject. Collection of Materials of the Scientific and Practical Conference Entitled “Legal Regulation in the Sphere of Electric Power Engineering and Heat Supply”].Yurist Publishing Group, Moscow, 2013. pp. 25 – 26.

 [15] See: A.G. Bykov. O proekte Energeticheskogo kodeksa Rossiiskoii Federatsii. V kn. A.G. Bykov: Chelovek, Uchenyi’, Uchitel’ [On the Draft of the Energy Code of the Russian Federation. In the book by A.G.Bykov: Man, Scientist, Teacher]. To the 75th anniversary since the birth of A.G.Bykov. Moscow, 2013.

[16] I.M. Matskevich, N.A. Vlasenko. Formalizatsiia spetsial’nostei’ nauchnykh issledovanii’ v sfere prava: soderzhanie i perspektivy [Formalization of Specializations of Scientific Research in the Sphere of Law: Contents and Perspectives]. Russian Law Journal, 2013, No. 6, pp. 116 – 121.

Bibliography:

  1. A.G. Bykov. Man, Scientist, Teacher]. To the 75th anniversary since the birth of A.G. Bykov. Moscow, 2013.
  2. A.P. Vershinin. Energeticheskoye pravo. Uchebno-prakticheskii kurs [Energy Law. Educational and Practical Course]. St. P, 2007.
  3. A.V. Zamaziy. Razreshenie chastno-pravovykh sporov v sfere electroenergetiki: preimushchestva tretei’skogo razbiratelstva. Sbornik materialov nauchno-prakticheskoi’ konferentsii “Pravovoe regulirovanie v sfere electroenergetiki i teplosnabzheniya” [Private Legal Dispute Settlement in the Sphere of Electric Power Engineering: Advantages of Arbitration Proceedings. Collection of Materials of the Scientific and Practical Conference Entitled “Legal Regulation in the Sphere of Electric Power Engineering and Heat Supply”]. Yurist Publishing Group. Moscow, 2013.
  4. E.P. Gubin. Gosudarstvennoe regulirovanie otnoshenii’ v sfere neftegazovogo kompleksa Rossii: pravovye voprosy [State Regulation of Relations in the Sphere of Oil and Gas Complex of Russia: Points of Law] // Energetika i pravo [Power Engineering and Law] // Edited by P.G. Lakhno. Moskow, 2008. p. 288–295.
  5. Energeticheskoye pravo i energoeffektivnost v Germanii i Rossii [Energy Law and Energy Efficiency in Germany and Russia] // Edited by B. Holtsnagel, L.V. Sannikova. Moskow, 2013.
  6. Energeticheskoye pravo Rossii i Germanii: sravnitelno-pravovoe issledovanie [Energy Law of Russia and Germany: Law Comparative Research] // Edited by P.G. Lakhno, F.Y. Zekker. Moskow, 2011.
  7. I.M. Matskevich, N.A. Vlasenko. Formalizatsiia spetsial’nostei’ nauchnykh issledovanii’ v sfere prava: soderzhanie i perspektivy [Formalization of Specializations of Scientific Research in the Sphere of Law: Contents and Perspectives]. Russian Law Journal, 2013. № 6. pp. 116–121.
  8. J.E. Hickey Jr., S.G. Kelly, M.E. Mansfield, J.P. Tomain, D.N. Zillman. Energeticheskoe pravo i politika v 21 veke. Gruppa energeticheskogo prava [Energy Law and Policy for the 21 Century. The Energy Law Group]. Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. Denver, Colorado, 2000.
  9. L.I. Shevchenko, A.I. Grishchenko. Opyt razrabotki i realizatsii magisterskoi’ programmy “Pravovoe obespechenie mezhdunarodno – energeticheskogo sotrudnichestva [Experience in Developing and Implementing the Master’s Degree Programme “Legal Regulation of International Energy Cooperation”] // Energeticheskoye pravo [Energy Law]. 2013. № 2. pp. 19–21.
  10. M. Roggenkamp, C. Redgwell, I. delGuayo and A. Ronne. Zakon ob energetike v Yevrope: natsional'nye , evrosoyuznye i mezhdunarodne otnosheniia [Energy Law in Europe: National, EU and International Relations]. Second edition, Oxford University Press, 2007.
  11. N.B. Pastukhova. Novaia zhizn energeticheskogo prava [New Life of Energy Law] // Yurist [Lawyer]. 2011. № 11.
  12. N.B. Pastukhova. Organizatsiia i prepodavanie energo-pravovykh distsiplin v Institute energeticheskogo prava MGUA imeni O.E. Kutafina: opyt i perspektivy. [Organization and Teaching of Energy Law Disciplines in the Institute of Energy Law at the MSLU named after O.E. Kutafin: Experience and Prospects]// Energeticheskoe pravo [Energy Law]. 2013. № 2. pp. 9–11.
  13. O.A. Gorodov. Vvedenie v energeticheskoe pravo [Introduction into Energy Law]. Textbook. Moskow, 2012.
  14. P.G. Lakhno. Energeticheskoye pravo – chto eto takoe? [Energy Law – What is It ?] // Energetika i pravo [Power Engineering and Law]. 2nd edition. Edited by P.G. Lakhno. Moskow, 2009. p. 40–58.
  15. P.G. Lakhno. Energeticheskoye pravo Rossii: ponyatie i sushchnost. Rossiyskaia model energeticheskogo prava. Novoe v pravovom regulirovanii biznessa [Energy Law in Russia: Concept and Substance. The Russian Model of Energy Law. Novelty in Legal Regulation of  Business]. Moskow, 2013.
  16. P.G. Lakhno. Nauchnie issledovaniia i prepodavanie energeticheskogo prava v Rossii i za rubezhom. Gazovyi’ bizness [Scientific Research and Teaching Energy Law in Russia and abroad. Gas Business]. Zhurnal Russkogo gazovogo obshchestva [Russian Gas Society Magazine]. 2013. № 6. pp. 38–51.
  17. R.A. Kurbanov. Energeticheskoe pravo i energeticheskaia politika stran Severnoy Ameriki [Energy Law and Energy Policy of the North American Countries]. Moskow, 2014.
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  21. V.S. Belykh. Zakon ob energetike kak pravovaia osnova dlia Rossiyskoii natsional'noii ekonomicheskoii bezopasnosti [Energy Law as a Legal Basis for Russian National Economic Security] // Rossiiskoe Pravo: teoriia i praktika [Russian Law: Theory and Practice]. 2010. № 1. p. 98–102.
  22. V.V. Blazheyev. O formirovanii energeticheskogo prava kak sostavnoi’ chasti vysshego yuridicheskogo obrazovaniya: V sbornike materialov nauchno-prakticheskoi’ konferentsii “Pravovoe regulirovanie v sfere eletroenergetiki i teplosnabzheniya” [On the Formation of Energy Law as a Constituent Part of Higher Legal Education: Collected Articles of Scientific and Practical Conference “Legal Regulation in the Sphere of Electrical Power Engineering and Heat Supply”]. Yurist Publishing Group. Moskow, 2013. pp. 6–9.
  23. V.V. Romanova. Energeticheskoe pravo. Obschaia chast: uchebnoye posobiye [Energy Law. General Part: Textbook]. Moskow, 2013.
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