Legal Regime of Foreign Investments in the Energy Sector: International Legal Foundations and Regional Mechanisms

The article examines the legal regime governing foreign investments in the energy sector, emphasizing its complex and multi-level structure. It outlines the international legal foundations for investment protection, including treaty-based standards safeguarding investors’ rights and procedural mechanisms for the settlement of investment disputes, and highlights the relevance of sector-specific international instruments addressing investment relations in the field of energy. Particular attention is paid to regional cooperation mechanisms that affect the coherence of legal regulation and contribute to a predictable normative environment for cross-border projects. The article argues that the effectiveness of the investment regime in the energy sector depends on the alignment of international obligations with domestic regulatory instruments, the priority of legal certainty and procedural safeguards, and the necessity to respect public interests associated with energy security and the protection of the national interests of the Russian Federation.