Stakeholders to discuss the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic recovery plan in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast’

Helsinki, 30 January (HELCOM Information Service) – As one of the first steps towards the upcoming implementation of the strategic HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in Leningrad Oblast’, local Russian authorities will host a major Stakeholder Workshop on 11 February in St. Petersburg in order to build up support for this multinational  strategy to rescue the troubled marine environment.

Senior government officials of Russia’s Leningrad Oblast’, representatives of the scientific and business communities, international financial institutions (IFIs), NGOs, as well as officials from neighbouring countries will discuss the regional implementation of the wide-ranging programme of actions which was adopted a year ago by the Baltic Sea countries and the European Commission - all members of HELCOM - to drastically reduce pollution to the sea and restore its good ecological status by 2021. It is expected that the Stakeholder Workshop will be opened by Valery Serdyukov, Governor of Leningrad Oblast’.

The overall objective of the Workshop, which is arranged in close cooperation between HELCOM, the Nordic Council of Ministers, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, and the regional Russian authorities, is to facilitate the involvement of stakeholders into the process of implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan in Leningrad Oblast’.

“This Workshop is the first of its kind in Leningrad Oblast’ and its purpose is also to identify the environment issues that concern this region, and prioritize actions,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary.  “The outcome report from the Workshop will contribute to the development of the overall National Action Programme for the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in Russia, which should be finalized by next year.”

The Workshop will discuss actions within all the four segments of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, concerning combating eutrophication caused by excessive inputs of nitrogen and phosphorous which mainly originate from inadequately treated sewage and agricultural run-off, preventing pollution by hazardous substances, halting habitat destruction and the decline in biodiversity, and improving maritime safety and accident response capacity. However, the major focus will be on eutrophication and biodiversity, as well as other issues that are of interest to Leningrad Oblast’.  

Both pollution from municipal wastewater as well as from agricultural run-off and the status of biodiversity will be addressed at parallel sections in order to elaborate concrete actions to solve existing environmental problems.

The financial aspects of the plan’s implementation and the cost-efficiency of measures will be one of the top issues. Discussions will particularly focus on the sources of funding, involvement of the international financial institutions and the private sector in the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. Much attention will be focused on understanding their requirements for providing financing support, as well as how to prepare successful projects to ensure and increase the investments for marine environmental protection. It is expected that IFIs such as the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Nordic Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP), the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), as well as local banks, including Rosselkhozbank, will participate in the discussions.

This is already the fourth Stakeholder Workshop on the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in Russia. Last year, two similar Workshops were arranged in Kaliningrad, and one in St. Petersburg.  

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organisation of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution. 

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," 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