Category: Media

Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen provided comments on the recent oil price collapse due to the Opec deal collapse for the article titled “Venäjä raottaa ovea yhteistyölle Opecin kanssa – hintasodassa liennytyksen merkkejä” (Russia is opening the door to cooperation with OPEC – signs of détente in the price war).

The oil price war that started over the weekend showed signs of easing on Tuesday, as Russia announced its readiness to resume cooperation with Opec, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Associate Professor at the University of Helsinki, who researches Russia’s energy policy, estimates that Russia’s decision to secede production cuts may be based on Russia’s desire to show its power to Opec.

Although Russia has blustered to cope with low oil prices for years, its economy is still completely dependent on oil.

The article is published in Keskisuomalainen and can be read online.

Talouselämä published a review on Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen’s latest book “The Energy of Russia. Hydrocarbon Culture and Climate Change”. The review, titled “Kirjat: Onko Venäjällä toivoa muutoksesta? Energia on Putinin samettinen rautahanska” (Books: Is there hope for change in Russia? Energy is Putin’s velvet iron glove), is written by Matti Kankare and is available for Talouselämä subscribers.

Last Friday you could have caught Dr. Sanna Kopra on Yle on Marja Sarikka’s show. Sanna was interviewed in the episode “Suomen ilmastoteot ovat yhtä tyhjän kanssa” (Finland’s climate actions are equal to nothing), Dr. Kopra spoke about China’s climate policy.

The interview starts at approximately 22nd minute.

Uusi Suomi published an article titled “”Kuolevaan teollisuudenalaan takertuva Venäjä on vaarallinen Venäjä” – Professori: Putin tarrautuu ilmastodenialismiin ja fossiilisiin turvatakseen valtansa” (“Russia clinging to a dying industry is a dangerous Russia” – Professor: Putin clings to climate-denialism and fossils to secure his power). The article is available for subscribers via this link.

Today Professor Tynkkynen appeared on Ykkösaamu radio programme, where he spoke about Russian energy policy and other issues, that he covers in his new book, “The Energy of Russia. Hydrocarbon Culture and Climate Change“. Listen to the talk on Yle website and come today to Tiedekulma at 13:00 to the book presentation.

Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen provided his comments for the new article “Venäjän ja Turkin presidentit vihkivät Mustanmeren pohjassa kulkevan kaasuputken” (Russian and Turkish presidents launched passing through the Black Sea bottom gas pipeline), published in Ilta-Sanomat on 8th of January. Professor Tynkkynen says that the new Turkstream pipeline is a significant step towards Russia’s long-term strategic objective of circumventing Ukraine when supplying gas to Europe.

The article can be read online in Finnish.

This week, on 17th of January, Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen will present his new book “The Energy of Russia” at Tiedekulma. Helsinki University website published an interview with Professor Tynkkynen “Ve­nä­jän hii­li­ve­ty­kult­tuu­ri ja avai­met sen pur­ka­mi­seen” (Russian hydrocarbon culture and the keys to its dismantling), where the readers can learn more about the book and its premise.

Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen’s work “Energy of Russia. Hydrocarbon Culture and Climate Change ”, published in December 2019, is a clear and comprehensive presentation of Russia’s energy policy and its deep links to domestic and foreign policy as well as to Russian identity. The book is particularly valuable because, in addition to presenting the problems, it also offers concrete solutions. There are no easy solutions, but Tynkkynen still encourages trying.

Russia could produce all the energy it needs via renewable energy sources. There are so many areas in a large country ideal for solar power plants, wind farms and hydropower, that there would be plenty of energy to export. Technology is available, and the growing concerns of Russians about both global climate change and local environmental problems are putting pressure on the transition to cleaner energy production. Why doesn’t something happen, though?

– It is unnecessarily pessimistic to say that nothing would happen, comforts Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Associate Professor of Russian Environmental Studies There are projects in Russia, for example, aimed at increasing the utilization of wind power. Having said that, however, it must be pointed that while the projects, in absolute terms, may be large, they are mostly cosmetic in the scale of Russian energy production. Russia is helplessly behind the rest of the world, especially the EU, the US and China.

Read this brilliant interview by Niina Into in full on the University’s website.

 

Helsingin Sanomat published a large feature article titled “Onko edessä uusien suurvaltojen aika? Näin energia­mullistus ravistelee maailman­politiikan valta-asetelmia” (Is it time for new superpowers? In this way, the energy change shakes global power setting). The author of the article investigates whether the ongoing energy transition collapse the old energy superpowers and give rise to new ones. Professor Tynkkynen provided a detailed account of Russian perspective:

In terms of export earnings, oil is more important to Russia than gas. Demand for oil is not expected to decline same way as coal. But if that was the case, the blow to Russia would be a big one.
“Russia is dependent on oil and gas, which could lose their market in 30 years. That is not a safe Russia. Therefore, Russia’s uncritical attitude towards hydrocarbons is not harmless,” says Tynkkynen, a Russian energy and environmental specialist.
Tynkkynen reminds that two-thirds of Russian export energy is imported into Europe.
“Therefore it is also our responsibility to help Russia move towards a low-carbon society. ”

The full article can be read either in print or online.

A big interview with Professor Tynkkynen was published Svenska Yle. The article and the interview itself are both in Swedish – Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen aims to speak all languages of FInland’s neighbours. The interview tells about his love for languages, new book “The Energy of Russia”, Russian energy and foreign policy, and many other things that Professor Tynkkynen is interested in. Read the interview online on Yle website.

Additionally, you can here to the part of the interview in radio programme Aktuellt, it starts around 25th minute.

A Czech news portal Info.cz published an article “Rusko posiluje partnerství s Čínou. Obě země spojil obří plynovod za 55 miliard dolarů”  (Russia is strengthening its partnership with China.  A giant $ 55 billion gas pipeline has joined two countries), for which Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen provided comments.

“Russia is still dependent on the EU market. I think that the development of the oil and gas market, especially competition from LNG and renewable energies, has a greater effect on prices than the sale of discounted Russian gas to China,” According to him, the Power of Siberia is symbolically important for Russia – it can now be argued that Europe is no longer the main market for it. “It’s important for both domestic and foreign audiences,” Tynkkynen adds.

The article in Czech can be found online from here.