Lithuania takes over the chairmanship of the Helsinki Commission on 1 July 2004
Arturas Daubaras is well known in Lithuania, the Baltic Sea States and other countries. He has enormous experience in the fields of ecology, environmental protection and management. In 1996-1999 he was head of Lithuanian delegation to the Helsinki Commission.
“HELCOM continues to play a crucial role in protecting the fragile marine environment of the Baltic Sea,” the new chairman said in his statement. “Its 30 years of activities is a success story.”
He emphasized, that the environmental situation in the Baltic Sea, which was always considered to be one of the world’s most polluted seas, has considerably improved in many spheres thanks to implementation of HELCOM’s recommendations and environmental requirements. “But despite some remarkable achievements, the overall state of the sea is still not up to the mark,” acknowledged Daubaras.
He underlined, that in order to maintain the Baltic Seas natural assets a lot more has to be done, particularly with regard to curbing eutrophication, caused by excessive nutrient loads, and phasing out hazardous substances, and also promoting safety of navigation and sustainable use of marine resources.
Chairman of HELCOM said that the overall state of the Baltic Sea should be further improved by combined efforts and integrated actions of all the coastal countries. “And HELCOM has a very important role in ensuring that all combined efforts are effective”, said Daubaras. “As chairman I will use my power, knowledge and experience to ensure that HELCOM provides timely data about environmental trends and the state of the marine ecosystem and develops best possible common objectives and actions of the Baltic Sea countries.”
HELCOM's new chairman stressed that he will work to keep up the good cooperation among all the Baltic Sea States in carrying out environmental measures. He admitted that changes in Europe's political architecture due to the enlargement of the European Union in 2004 brought many of the Baltic Sea States closer together than ever before. But he also emphasized the importance for the Baltic coastal countries to have strong links with Russia as the only non-EU HELCOM member. “Close cooperation between the Baltic Sea EU members and Russia is extremely vital for any further progress of HELCOM to maintain healthy marine environment in the region,” said Daubaras.
“We live and work on the shores of one of the most beautiful seas in the world, which is part of the everyday lives of more than 85 million people,” said Daubaras, “And it is our duty to take care of it’s health in order for our children and grandchildren to continue to admire its beauty and diverse nature and successfully progress in any venture in the Baltics”.
Arturas Daubaras is succeeding Inese Vaidere, Elected Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia and former Latvian Minister of the Environment. She was chairing the Helsinki Commission in 2002-2004.
Curriculum vitae
Dr. Arturas Daubaras is the head of the Lithuanian State Environmental Protection Inspectorate since May 2002. In 2001-2002 he served as an advisor to the Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Lithuania.
In 1997-2000 Mr. Daubaras served as the Vice-Minister in the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania. During 1998-2000 he acted as chief negotiator of Lithuanian accession process to EU in environmental sector.
From 1996 to 1999 Mr. Daubaras was Head of Lithuanian delegation to the Helsinki Commission.
Mr. Daubaras was Director General of the Joint Research Centre in 1994-1997. In 1993-1994 he headed the Science Board of the Lithuanian Environmental Protection Department. Before that, beginning from 1991, Mr. Daubaras was Chief executive of the Science co-ordination division in the same Department.
Mr. Daubaras started his career in the Institute of Ecology of the Academy of Sciences of Lithuania. There from 1984 to 1991 he was a senior researcher at the Soil Ecology Laboratory.
Mr. Daubaras graduated from Vilnius University in 1984 with a Master’s degree in Biology, received Ph.D. in Ecology from Moscow University in 1989 and got MBA in International Trade after studying at the International Business School of Vilnius University in 1998. He now studies at Vilnius Law University for MBA in Law and Administration. Mr. Daubaras obtained additional professional skills taking courses on environment protection and management in Japan, USA, Sweden and at the UN.
Mr. Daubaras is a member of the Council of Science Academy of Lithuania and member of the Lithuanian Environment Association.
Mr. Daubaras also gained a lot of professional experience acting as a member of several Commissions and Councils at the Lithuanian Governmental institutions. Particularly, he served as member of the State Committee for Emergency Control in Lithuania in 1997-2000 and member of the State Committee for Information System Development in Lithuania in 1998-2000.
Mr. Daubaras is an author of 15 publications on environmental and other issues.
He is fluent in Lithuanian, English and Russian.
Contacts
HELCOM Secretariat
Mr Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary
Tel: +358 9 6220 2235
Fax: +358 9 6220 2239