HELCOM’s Chairman and Russia’s Minister of Natural Resources discuss the preparation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan

Helsinki, 10 October (HELCOM) – The Chairman of the Helsinki Commission Mieczyslaw Ostojski and the Minister of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation Russia Yuri Trutnev met on Tuesday in Helsinki to discuss a range of topics related to present and future HELCOM actions to protect the Baltic marine environment.

Chairman Ostojski emphasized the importance of Russia’s active involvement in the environmental co-operation in the in the Baltic Sea region. “Close co-operation with Russia is crucial for any further progress to be made in rescuing the troubled Baltic marine environment,” said Ostojski.

Chairman Ostojski and Minister Trutnev also discussed HELCOM’s current activities to create a strategic action plan to restore the health of the Baltic Sea, as well as Russia’s support and participation in this process. “We would like to see Russia’s wider involvement in the development of this new strategy in order to make it as realistic, comprehensive and action-oriented as possible,” said Chairman Ostojski. “The adoption of the action plan will be a major milestone in our joint efforts to make the Baltic Sea a more environmentally sound and healthier place. The concept of HELCOM’s innovative environmental action plan, which is based on a specially defined set of Ecological Objectives, has been already praised as a model to be followed by other regional marine conventions around Europe. But the future success of the plan will largely depend on how all the coastal countries, including Russia, can co-operate to achieve the goal of a healthy Baltic marine environment.”

This is the first meeting between the current HELCOM Chairman and Russia’s Minister of Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev. Prof. Mieczyslaw Ostojski of Poland assumed the position of the Chairman of HELCOM on 1 July 2006. The chairmanship rotates among the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the EU, which is also a Contracting Party, according to alphabetical order, with changes every two years. Russia is next in line to take over the chairmanship of HELCOM in 2008.

Note to Editors: 

The Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental co-operation between the countries bordering the sea - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and also the European Community.  

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