State-Owned Enterprises in International Law: Gazprom and Others at the Private / Public Divide

This episode of the Völkerrechtliche Tagesthemen focuses on State-owned enterprises (SOEs), which 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.