HELCOM Chairman to visit Helsinki and Stockholm

Helsinki, 24 October (HELCOM Information Service) – The Chairman of the Helsinki Commission Igor Maydanov will pay a visit to Finland and Sweden on 27-30 October as part of the ongoing consultations on the implementation of the strategic Baltic Sea Action Plan to restore the health of the sea by 2021. 

In Helsinki, Maydanov will participate as a keynote speaker in the side event on the Baltic marine environment protection of the 60th annual Session of the Nordic Council which will be held on 27-29 October in the Finnish Parliament. Around 100 parliamentarians representing all the Nordic countries will meet at the Session to discuss important issues relating to regional co-operation. Some 100 specially invited guests from the neighboring countries and even further afield will also attend, including members of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. All in all over 1,000 participants are expected to attend the Session.

“The Chairman of the Helsinki Commission will have an excellent opportunity to provide key decision makers from all over the Nordic Region with first-hand information on the current situation in the Baltic marine environment and the implementation of a strategic overarching HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to drastically reduce pollution to the sea and restore its good ecological status,” said Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary.

The side event on the Baltic marine environment protection is arranged by the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and the Nordic Environment Financing Corporation (NEFCO), two major international financial institutions (IFIs). The organizers have chosen the Baltic Sea environment and, in particular, the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan as the theme of this seminar in view of the great importance of this programme for the future of the region and the proactive engagement that the two IFIs have as co-operating partners with HELCOM.

In a separate event in Helsinki, HELCOM’s Chairman will meet with the senior management of NIB and NEFCO, including NIB’s First Vice-President Nils Emilsson and NEFCO’s Managing Director Magnus Rystedt. Measures on how to finance efforts to re-create a healthy Baltic Sea will be the topmost issue on the agenda.

On 29-30 October, Maydanov will pay a visit to Stockholm. In his capacity also as the Head of the Department for International Co-operation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, Maydanov is expected to have a bilateral meeting with the Swedish Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren and the State Secretary of the Swedish Ministry of the Environment Åsa-Britt Karlsson.  According to the agenda, the parties will exchange views on the key role of Russia and Sweden in the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan during their HELCOM Chairmanships in 2008-2010 and 2010-2012 respectively, as well as the development of a Financial Fund Facility for the implementation of the plan. Additionally, they will discuss preparations for a meeting between the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Yuri Trutnev and Andreas Carlgren in Moscow, and plans and prospects for the EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council environment meeting during the Swedish EU presidency in the fall of 2009.

Maydanov will also meet with leading experts from the Swedish Ministry of the Environment and the Environment Protection Agency to discuss bilateral experiences in the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, as well as the creation of natural reserves in both countries. Main discussions are expected to focus on activities to curb eutrophication of the Baltic marine environment caused by the excessive nutrient loads of the nitrogen and phosphorus that are entering the sea. The parties will particularly review measures to cut down inputs from agriculture and untreated sewage which are the main contributors to the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea.

The Russian Federation has assumed the Chairmanship of the Helsinki Commission as of 1 July 2008. The Chairmanship of HELCOM rotates between the Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Community according to the alphabetical order every two years. Igor Maydanov will lead, as Chairman, the work of HELCOM up until 30 June 2010.

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), is an intergovernmental organisation of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Community working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region. 

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," more usually known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi