ECONOMY
Head of SOCAR representative office in Austria delivers report on Azerbaijan`s energy infrastructure in OSCE`s meeting
Baku, March 15 (AZERTAC). Head of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) representative office in Austria Gulmirza Javadov has delivered a report and a presentation entitled “Azerbaijan`s position and current state on protecting critical energy infrastructure” at the another meeting of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Committee.
Mr. Javadov provided an insight into Azerbaijan`s achievements in the relevant sphere.
Energy security and energy infrastructure security are among the most serious security and economic challenges of today, and the future. As the economies of the world grow more interconnected and societies continue to develop, so does the importance of energy; and so does the importance of the infrastructures that produce, refine and transport this energy.
In recent years, protecting critical energy infrastructure against terrorism has received increased attention from the international community. Since critical energy infrastructure contains the fuel that keeps the global economy moving and our societies working, our dependency on such infrastructure makes it a possible target for terrorists. Researchers indeed suggest that the threat of terrorist and other non-state actor attacks on critical energy infrastructure, especially on industrial control systems and cyber-related infrastructure is growing. The disruption or destruction of energy-related infrastructure could have a serious impact at both national and international levels.
Protecting critical energy infrastructure from terrorist attacks is an issue particularly salient for the OSCE, whose 56 participating States, as well as Partners for Co-operation, include some of the largest producers and consumers of energy as well as many strategic transit countries. OSCE participating States adopted a Ministerial Council Decision on Protecting Critical Energy Infrastructure from Terrorist Attack, whereby they committed to co-operate and better co-ordinate and to consider all necessary measures at the national level in order to ensure adequate critical energy infrastructure protection from terrorist attack.