Welcome to the Three Seas House at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It is a place intended to highlight the investment opportunities laying in the Three Seas region and to showcase the economic progress of the member countries of the Three Seas Initiative. To learn more about the panel discussions and high level debates that will take place there during the upcoming days, go here.
May 26th 8:00 pm
Delegations leave Davos after the annual summit ends with a speech by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
On Thursday, the attendees of the Davos Forum started leaving the Swiss alpine resort. Long lines could be seen along congested roads as delegates headed back to Zurich for flights back home. The final speeches were provided by the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The Kyiv Mayor emphasized that Russia still hopes to take control of the Ukrainian capital in what is Europe’s largest war since the Second World War, and not as Russia claims, a “special military operation”.
He added that the Russian invasion amounts to “genocide of the Ukrainian people” and that satellite images from Bucha have helped to prove this to the world.
His speech was followed by Chancellor Scholz, who stated that Putin wants to “return to a world order in which the strongest dictate what is right, in which freedom, sovereignty and self-determination are not.”
He also described Putin’s war politics as “imperialism,” which is “trying to bomb us back to a time when war was a common means of politics, when our continent and the world lacked a stable peace order.”
The German chancellor also urged all world powers to work together in the face of the war but also in order to solve threats like hunger, climate change or dependence on fossil fuels.
The World Economic Forum in Davos is expected to return to its traditional January slot next year.
Thank you for being with 3SeasEurope and having followed our coverage of the Three Seas House in Davos. Additional interviews from the event will be published in the coming days. We hope to back again next year.
May 25th 7:00 pm
Nobel Prize-winner and world-famous economist, Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz, talking to 3SeasEurope about the economic miracle in the Three Seas region
The American economist and Nobel Prize-winner in economics, Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz, has sat down with 3SeasEurope to discuss the reasons behind the fast-paced economic growth in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) since the fall of communism in 1989. According to the professor, sound institutions and inclusive growth have played in important role in taking the region’s economies this far. He also believes that the coming green transition will be another vehicle that will propel the CEE economies forward.
Professor Stiglitz says that regional cooperation in R&D and higher education will make further growth possible. He makes a distinction between “hard” infrastructure and “soft infrastructure”, while stressing the need for countries to invest in both.
Finally, the professor shares his thoughts on the war in Ukraine and the impact it has on food and energy prices across the world.
May 25th 5:00 pm
Google’s view on cyber security in the Three Seas region
One of the panelists that visited the Three Seas House in Davos was Royal Hansen, Google’s Vice-President of Security, Privacy and Safety. 3SeasEurope took the opportunity to speak with him about digitization and digital security in the Three Seas region.
May 25th 10:00 am
The Financial Perspective on economic growth in the Three Seas
The Three Seas House in Davos today hosted its final morning panel, named “Financial Perspectives on Three Seas Regional Growth”. During the panel, Ms. Karen Karniol-Tambour, Co-Chief Investment Officer for Sustainability at Bridgewater Associates talked about the irrational fear some investors have in engaging in the region.
Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund with $160 billion in institutional investments.
It was founded by the legendary investor Ray Dalio in 1975 and serves institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, foundations, foreign governments, and central banks.
The company utilizes a global macro investing style based on economic trends such as inflation, currency exchange rates, and U.S. gross domestic product.
Having engaged extensively with the region, Ms Karniol-Tambour stated that she is surprised to have seen that some international investors are show less interest in investing in the Three Seas region, despite its quick pace of economic growth and political stability while they are willing to invest in other regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa or parts of Asia that can be seen as volatile and riddled with problems associated with many areas of public governance.
She stated that it will be key for the Three Seas region to do something about this attitude and that the Russian invasion of Ukraine could make that more difficult. On the upside, she added that this state of affairs means that the space for improvement is large and that an increase in foreign investments could drive economic growth in the region for many years to come.
May 24th 6:00 pm
Poland’s president Andrzej Duda bestows Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović with Poland’s highest order
At a ceremony at the Three Seas House in Davos, Polish president Andrzej Duda awarded the former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic with the Order of the White Eagle “in recognition of her services to the Republic of Poland in developing Polish-Croatian cooperation in the field of energy security”.
The former Croatian president was the leading force together with President Duda in convincing ten other Central Eastern European states to form the Three Seas Initiative in 2015.
The Order of the White Eagle is the oldest and highest decoration of the Republic of Poland, awarded for great civil and military merits for the country.
The Polish president stated that the order is only to people who have contributed with important and absolutely outstanding services to the Polish state.
May 24th 3:00 pm
Polish and Armenian presidents meet in the Three Seas House as Warsaw Stock Exchange concludes deal to buy its Armenian counterpart
Presidents of Poland and Armenia meet in the Three Seas House in Davos as the Warsaw Stock Exchange concludes a deal to buy its Armenian counterpart.
The agreement was struck by Marek Dietl, CEO of the Warsaw Stock Exchang (GPW) and Hayk Yeganyan, CEO of the Armenia Securities Exchange (AMX), in presence of Polish president Andrzej Duda and Armenian president Vahagn Khachaturyan.
The document initialing a share purchase agreement was signed in the Three Seas House in Davos, in a culminating point of a nearly two-year-long process delayed by the global pandemic.
The bourse in Warsaw is buying a majority stake and will hold more than 65% of the shares in AMX.
Mr Dietl stated that the Warsaw Stock Exchange intends to transfer its “30 years of experience on the Polish market to Armenia and to the South Caucasus as Armenia plays a very important role in the regional capital flows: for example, the seat of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges is in Yerevan.”
President Duda said that he was very happy with the deal having been struck and added “these are the first effects of what is happening here in Davos and how Poland is promoted at this event.”
The Warsaw bourse plans to introduce innovative solutions based on the most modern technologies, while also focusing on implementing new solutions that will facilitate trade in commodities.
May 24th 1:00 pm
Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund signs key agreement with Romanian Transgaz
The Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund has signed an agreement to invest in Romania’s gas transmission network.
The roadmap agreement between the fund and Romania’s Transgaz on the construction of planned greenfield gas infrastructure in Romania was signed in the Three Seas House in Davos.
Transgaz is a state-controlled company, which is the technical operator of the national gas transmission system in Romania. The company handles more than 13 bcma (billion cubic meters per annum) and has a pipe network of nearly 15 000 km.
The new transmission infrastructure will accelerate economic growth in the region, while also strengthening European energy security and the energy transition in the Three Seas region.
The total value of the joint projects between the investment fund and Transgaz will be worth up to EUR 626 million and upon completion will be sold to Transgaz.
The transaction documentation is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of this year.
Ms. Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka, Chairperson of the Fund said: “Energy security in the Three Seas region has never been more important. We need state of the art energy infrastructure to continue the growth of our economies. So far, we have been the fastest growing economies of the EU and I strongly believe that this will keep on attracting private capital for infrastructure investment in our region”.
Mr. Ion Sterian, General Manager of Transgaz added: “Transgaz, the technical operator of the Romanian National Natural Gas Transmission System is interested to develop strategic gas infrastructure projects in Romania that will help contribute to energy security and transition to carbon neutrality.
Mr. Dorin–Alex Badea, Senior Investment Director at Amber Infrastructure: “We are delighted that the Fund and Transgaz have agreed this roadmap that will ultimately lead to the construction of this crucial Romanian gas infrastructure. The investment utilises innovative financing that has the potential to unlock new sources of private capital for other strategic projects across the region.”
Romania is working on extending its BRUA pipeline toward the Black Sea and the country is also expected to start large-scale gas production in the Black Sea, making it possible for the country to provide other countries in Central Eastern Europe with significant quantities of gas.
May 23rd 7:00 pm
Three Seas Energy Transformation panel
The third event of the Three Seas House in Davos gathered a number of people who have been involved with advancing the Three Seas project for years:
- Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland and and Co-Chair of Three Seas Programming at the Europe Center of the Atlantic Council; Ms Georgette Mosbacher
- Ms. Ana Birchall, the Special Envoy for Strategic and International Affairs at Nuclearelectrica and former Minister of Justice of Romania.
- Mr. Roger Martella, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at General Electric
- Mr. Trevor Mihalik, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Sempra, one of largest players on the U.S. energy market.
- Ms. Hadley Gamble, Reporter and Anchor at CNBC’s Wine & Invest moderated the panel discussion.
Ms Mosbacher started by stressing the important role that can be played by joint public and private investment initiatives such as the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund (3SIIF). She added that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the need for investment into the energy sector in order for the EU to become energy independent.
Asked about which changes to the energy market that she can see after the invasion of Ukraine, Ms Birchall stated that Romania hosted the group’s annual summit in 2018, during which the seeds for the 3SIIF were planted.
She argued that the war has made it clear that the region needs to have a balanced energy mix, which takes into account the specific situation every country is in.
Ms Birchall stressed that Romania has done that by investing in American nuclear technology and will now take the next step by investing into Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs). Apart from what Romania is doing on its own, Ms Birchall said that the EU’s vote on energy taxonomy in July will be crucial, as it will decide whether the EU will fund nuclear energy and natural gas projects.
Mr Mihalik, whose company recently signed a long-term contract with Poland for a natural gas deal, stated that interconnectivity is very important when it comes to both gas pipelines and energy grids. He gave an example from the US where old oil pipelines were turned into gas pipelines. Another beneficial transformation was done by turning one directional pipelines into bidirectional ones, allowing for gas to be transported to LNG terminals in California, from where the gas was sent by ship to countries across the world.
Mr Mihalik stated that he is convinced that natural gas will play a key role in the coming years as a transitional energy source.
Asked by the moderator about what can be done within the next 12 months to limit the soaring energy prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr Martella stated that an often overlooked, but efficient solution is to invest into the energy grid, and in particular, digitizing it.
The former President of Croatia, and one of the founders of the Three Seas Initiative, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic was present in the audience and chipped in with an observation at the end.
She stated that the war in Ukraine had driven home a point regional leaders had been making for years, namely the fact that energy policy is an area of geopolitical, or even geo-economic importance. She stated that if the U.S. does not invest in the region, other other players will, but she added “we want to see investments from the USA.”
May 23rd 5:00 pm
Vladimir Klitschko thanks Poles at the Three Seas House in Davos
The Ukrainian boxer and brother of the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitalii Klitschko, said Ukraine has received great help from Poland following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Ukrainian boxing legend and two-time heavyweight world champion, stopped by the Three Seas House in Davos and spoke with the President of Poland’s state development bank BGK, Beata Daszyńska-Muzycka, who also serves as the President of the Supervisory Board of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund.
He said that Ukraine has received great help from Poland ever since Russia started its aggression against the country with the invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine is one of the main topics at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. Many high-profiled guests are visiting the Ukrainian House to hear the latest about the war effort in Ukraine as well as visiting the former Russian House in Davos, which this year has been turned into the “House of Russian War Crimes”. Some of Ukraine’s top politicians and celebrities have arrived in Davos to draw attention to the Russian aggression against the country, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, and Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Debates on how to best help Ukraine defend itself from the invading Russian Army and then rebuild its country is a recurring theme at panel discussions across the Swiss mountain resort. The topic has also been discussed extensively at the Three Seas House, where the Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, stated on the morning of May 24th that Ukraine should become a member of the Three Seas Initiative. She also stressed that the initiative could help Ukraine greatly immediately by giving its access to three seas ports and railways for export of goods, and in particular grains and other food products.
The Three Seas House in Davos is being organized for the first time this year. The presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Poland will meet there for a presidential forum on the evening of May 24th.
May 23rd 12:30 pm
3Seas United in Cyber Power. Presentation of Kościuszko Institute report by Izabela Albrycht
During the second event held by the Three Seas House in Davos, the Kościuszko Institute presented the first report on cyber security and cyber power written following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Izabela Albrycht, the President of the Organizing Committee of the European Cybersecurity Forum – CYBERSEC, one of the co-authors of the report presented the challenges and opportunities that have emerged in the world of cyber security after Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine.
The report also deals with the changes to the cyber security environment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stirred up the scene even more and the report deals extensively with the repercussions while also mapping the threat landscape across the Three Seas region.
The report underlines that the EU and NATO provide many opportunities for the Three Seas countries to take their cyber security to the next level, while also stressing the need for information-sharing between the countries in the region to quickly discover and react to new threats.
Finally, an important segment is dedicated to the role new data centers and cloud developments play for the civilian and military security of the Three Seas.
The report can be read by clicking the link below.
May 23rd 08:00 a.m.
The Geopolitical Opportunity and Urgency of the Three Seas House Panel
The Three Seas House in Davos has kicked off its first event. Poland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation Egle Markeviciute, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński and Google’s Vice-President responsible for Government Affairs & Public Policy Karan Bhatia discussed the geopolitical opportunities presented by the Three Seas Initiative and the urgency it has following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Bhatia emphasized that Google sees in important mission in fighting disinformation and help countries in the region increase their cybersecurity. Mr Jabłoński stated that the Three Seas Initiative should find a way to integrate Ukraine much more closely to the group. Ms Markeviciute stressed that Three Seas countries have an important role to play by helping Ukraine export and import goods through the railway connections, highways and ports in neighbouring states. This is something that is particularly important for many countries in the developing world that depend on Ukrainian food products making their way out of the the country in order for food prices to stabilize.
The discussion was moderated by Fred Kempe, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Council.
May 23rd
Welcome to the Three Seas House during the World Economic Forum in Davos 2022
The Three Seas House opened its doors for the first time during the World Economic Forum in Davos. It is here to highlight the progress and potentials of the Three Seas Initiative. Follow our live coverage to learn more.
