The importance of natural gas infrastructure has been the common denominator of V4 security of supply related energy policy discussion and agenda setting for a long time. The heated geopolitical tension around the flows of the Ukrainian route and the potential abuse of market power by the largest supplier of imported gas to the EU seems to be over. This session at the 15th CEEC conference organized by the V4 Energy Think Tank Platform looked into the state of play of the gas flows in the new era - after the expiry of the Russian-Ukrainian long term transit contact in 2019. Besides the changes of gas flows and their impact on the V4 we see a growing certainty for a tremendous and fundamental change in the role of gas in the energy system, this time not because of any geopolitical reason but because of the climate change and the decarbonization agenda.

Speakers:

• Ján Klepáč, Adviser to the Executive Board, Slovak Gas and Oil Association
• Christian Redl, PhD, Senior Associate, European Energy Cooperation, Agora Energiewende
• Szabolcs I. Ferencz, Chairman of the Board and CEO, FGSZ
• Péter Kotek, Senior Research Associate, REKK
• Milan Sedláček, Head of EU affairs and Strategy, eustream, a.s.