Helsinki, 1^st March (HELCOM) - The Helsinki Commission will hold a kick-off Stakeholder Conference on the development of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan on 7^th of March 2006 in Helsinki, Finland. The Conference is open to the Media. It will take place at the Marina Congress Center, Katajanokanlaituri 6. The opening is at 10:00 a.m.

Journalists wishing to cover the Conference must request accreditation from the HELCOM Secretariat by 6^th March 2006. Please e-mail your name and media affiliation to leena.heikkila@helcom.fi, or call tel. +358 9 6220 220.

For details on the Conference,

please see press release: http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/StakeholderConference2827/

For more information, or to arrange an interview with the HELCOM officials, please contact:

Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel.: +358 (0) 9 62 20 2235

Mobile: +358 (0) 46 85 09 196

Fax: +358 9 6220 2239

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi

For Daybooks:

Event:            Stakeholder Conference on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan

Date:              Tuesday, 7^th March 2006

Time:             10:00-17:00

Location:       Marina Congress Center, 2^nd floor, Katajanokanlaituri 6, FI-00160 Helsinki, Finland