Eurasia prioritises unified policies and AI
His Excellency Arzybek Kozhoshev, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure for the Eurasian Economic Union, provided a full introduction to his organisation and its goals and strategies during the Energy Talk New energy equilibria: Shaping the Eurasian response to a changing global order.
H.E. Kozhoshev began by explaining that the union is made up of five countries: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Now just over 10 years old, it aims to facilitate free trade between its countries, and create a unified energy market.
“The world is facing a profound transformation. Over the last 25 years we have experienced so many events which have never happened before in the previous century,” he said.
“Armenia and Belarus produce 20% of nuclear energy, and we are building facilities in Kyrgyzstan, too. Armenia’s economy grew by 10% in 2024. It is a country with huge potential.”
He stressed that a unified energy market was therefore vital for protecting national interests, energy resources, and ensuring safety: “We are facing a difficult time and many challenges. Therefore, we must change our trade patterns, supply chains, and find new ways of operating. For instance, we are looking for alternative energy supply routes to the Suez Canal. We are also looking at creating coordinated policies.”
Developing the union’s use of AI and renewable energy use were also mentioned as key priorities.
“We are still in the early stages of integrating AI, but we are trying to catch up, and we know it will allow us to analyse situations and perform calculations quickly, preventing breakdowns and emergency situations. This week I was honoured to visit The Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the world’s first AI university here in Abu Dhabi,” he noted.
Around 7% of energy used in the union is renewable, and H.E. Kozhoshev said that the goal is to increase this figure to 30%. However, he emphasised that the best way to do this was to combine traditional and alternative energy forms together.
“Wind is not consistent, and so relying purely on natural resources creates instability,” he stated.
“After all, traditional energy will be used until 2050 and remain in some form until 2100. Armenia and Belarus produce 20% of nuclear energy, and we are building facilities in Kyrgyzstan, too. Armenia’s economy grew by 10% in 2024. It is a country with huge potential.”
