Lecture at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
As part of the lecture series “Völkerrechtliche Tagesthemen” at the Walther Schücking Institute for International Law at Kiel University, Professor Wiater will speak on 24 January 2024 from 13:00 to 14:00 on the topic “State-owned enterprises in international law. Gazprom and others at the private/public divide”.
The lecture can be followed via Zoom.
Further information is available on the Institute’s website.
Abstract:
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) play an important role in the global economy in various sectors and industries. SOEs – such as Gazprom – are often active in strategic industries and critical sectors such as energy, telecommunications, transport and banking. States use SOEs not only to secure resources or establish trade relations, but also to influence the economies of other states for (geo)political purposes. The recent report ‘Gazprom – The Perfect Weapon’ shows that the German government only realised after the Russian invasion of Ukraine that Russia has long been using gas as an instrument to impose its will on states. The lecture will discuss how the relevance of state-owned enterprises as instruments of a state’s foreign policy is addressed in international law, in particular in the law of state immunity, investment protection and human rights law.