OREANDA-NEWS  The organizers of the CERAWeek international energy conference canceled the registration of Russian participants at the last moment, Alexander Zakharov, Consul General of Russia in Houston, USA, told RIA Novosti, where the forum opened.

"Alas, we are not participating this year — for the first time in more than 20 years. Moreover, we made it clear that the presence of Russian delegates at the forum is undesirable. They were not too lazy to even call back to make sure that I understand the situation correctly," the agency interlocutor said.

He stressed that this is the first time that representatives of Russia, which is part of the "Big Oil Troika", were not officially invited to the event. In this regard, the question arises how exactly the forum participants can discuss and analyze the problems of world energy in the absence of one of the largest producers and exporters of energy carriers, Zakharov pointed out. He recalled that in different years, the heads of the leading Russian oil and gas companies — Rosneft, Gazprom, Lukoil - spoke at the conference with great success in front of a crowded hall.

The organizers of the conference have not yet officially commented on the non-participation of official representatives of Russia, Zakharov concluded.

CERAWeek is the largest and most authoritative international conference on energy issues. It takes place annually in Houston. The forum gathers thousands of participants from all over the world, including representatives of various departments, industry companies and the expert community. This year the conference will be held from March 6 to 10. The main theme is "Navigating a turbulent world: energy, climate and security". A noticeable difference from last year's formulation was the shift from a focus on innovation to security issues.