From 3 to 5 October, MEDREG held its 8th Presidency Meeting, chaired by our President Petrit Ahmeti, in Dubrovnik back-to-back with a High-Level meeting on Gas Crisis in the European Union and the Role of Regulators, co-hosted by our Croatian member HERA, represented by Commissioner Ms. Alenka Kinderman Loncarevic.
At the same time the Presidency Board, physically represented by President Petrit Ahmeti and Vice President of MEDREG and President of ANRE Mr. Abdellatif Bardach, Secretary General of ERE, Mr. Elton Radheshi, as well as other member Regulators - Mr. Branislav Prelevic, President of the REGEGAN and Mr. Miroslav Vukcevic, Member of the Board (Montenegro) and Mr. Suad Zeljkovic, President of SERC (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - with the support of ACER, represented by Ms. Csilla Bartok, Team Leader, and Mr. Alberto Biancardi, the Director at GSE, discussed and shared their experiences with HE Dr. Walid FAYAD, Minister of Energy and Water of Lebanon, and our Member LCEC, represented by Mr. Pierre Khoury, General Director and Ms. Sorina Mortada, Technical Consultant, towards creating an independent regulator in Lebanon.
Moreover, Mr. Saltuk Duzyol, CEO of TANAP and Ms. Csilla Bartok, Team leader at ACER, and Mr. Sohbet Karbuz, Head of Hydrocarbons and Energy Security Division at OME, shared and discussed with the Regulators the existing available capacities and resources in the Mediterranean region and Southern Gas Corridor with a perspective of short to medium and medium to long term investment requirements for bringing additional volumes, replacing the Russian gas.
It has been clearly highlighted that Mediterranean gas resources can play a vital role in replacing the Russian gas both in the short and long term if the necessary investments are made on time.
It has also been underlined that a closer cooperation and collaboration are necessary among the policy makers, regulators, industry and consumer groups in coping with the challenges ahead of the region.
Last but not least it has also been stressed that a harmonized and coherent regulation can facilitate those efforts and streamline the necessary investment requirements.