Şahin Ardıyok joined as a panelist to the 14th ERRA Energy Investment and Regulation Conference, which took place on October 5-6 in Bucharest, Romania.

The Energy Regulators Regional (ERRA) is a voluntary organization with headquarters in Budapest, Hungary and comprised of independent energy regulatory bodies from the Central European and Eurasian region, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the USA.

Hosted by Romanian Energy Regulatory Agency, the Conference is held in five sessions focusing on the status of the energy industry in Romania, lessons learned during the liberalization process, current developments in the natural gas market and energy law and energy finance.

A good snapshot of the energy industry in Romania and neighboring countries is given during the event, while providing a fruitful discussion environment toward for local and international issues of importance for investors, regulators, decision makers and all other parties involved.

Prof. Jean-Michel Glachant, Director of Florence School of Regulation, Italy, was the keynote speaker. Lisa Edgar, President of National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, USA, moderated the energy law and energy finance panel where Şahin Ardıyok attended. Şahin was invited to the conference due to his lectures on “Energy Law and Policy” in Bilkent University, Faculty of Law.

His questions focused on the role of the regulator in the context of regulator as the entity setting binding rules or just implementing the laws and experience with our country on national and/or regional tensions that need to be harmonized to encourage common regulatory decisions.

He presented a detailed discussion on emerging regulations and  laws in Turkey that may change traditional regulatory relationships between agencies, answered which emerging technologies in the energy sector pose the most legal and regulatory challenges and explained how Turkey and Turkish regulators deal with using new technologies, such as smart meters.

The conference opened with speeches by Alparsalan Bayraktar, Chairman of ERRA and Board Member in the Energy Market Regulatory Authority of Turkey (EMRA) and Niculae Havrilet, President of the Romanian Energy Regulatory Autority. 200 attendees, both from the public and private sector, including representatives from Bulgaria, Africa, Estonia, USA and sectorial associations and executives of leading corporations, took part in the conference.

About Balcıoğlu Selçuk Ardıyok Keki

Balcıoğlu Selçuk Ardıyok Keki Attorney Partnership is an Istanbul-based full service law firm with a team of 130+ lawyers and economists. Our practice focuses on a wide range of areas including real estate, corporate, mergers and acquisitions, banking, project finance, capital markets, competition and anti-trust, employment, litigation and arbitration, telecommunication, regulatory and public law and intellectual property. We represent and advise Turkish and multinational clients, including Fortune 500 companies, in the banking and finance, private equity, real estate, manufacturing, hospitality and leisure, retail, automotive, energy, information technology, life sciences, luxury fashion and beauty, and media sectors.