The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) held the Thirty-Fourth Plenary Session of its General Assembly on 23-25 November in Moscow under the Chairmanship of Mr. Boris GRYZLOV, PABSEC President, Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
The Moscow Session was attended by parliamentary delegations from the PABSEC Member Countries. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Hovik ABRAHAMYAN, Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Ogtay ASADOV, Chairman of the Milli Meclis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Mr. Mehmet Ali ÞAHIN, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The BSEC Organization was represented by the First Deputy Secretary General of the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat, the BSEC Business Council by its Secretary General and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank will be represented by its President. Among observers and guests were the representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, the French Senate and National Assembly, the Knesset of the State of Israel, the Assembly of the Western European Union, the Parliamentary Dimension of the Central European Initiative, the European Parliament, Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Eurasian Economic Community, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarus-Russia Union, the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States, the Black Sea Universities Network, and the Marmara Foundation.
The Plenary Session discussed “The development of international transport corridors and ensuring energy security of the BSEC countries and Europe” as the main topic of the General Debate.
The Assembly conducted debates on the Reports and Recommendations drafted by the PABSEC specialized Committees during their autumn meetings. The Report on “Water resources management in the Black Sea region” was presented by Mr. Gagik MINASYAN (Armenia), Chairman of the PABSEC Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs Committee. Mr. Serhiy PODHORNY (Ukraine), Vice-Chairman of the PABSEC Legal and Political Affairs Committee, presented the Report on “Rational management of natural resources in the Black Sea region: enhancement of legislative framework”. The Report of the PABSEC Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee on “Shaping ecological awareness and behavior in the BSEC Member States” was presented by Mr. Alexandru MAZARE (Romania).
The Assembly adopted Recommendations on these subjects addressed to the Parliaments and Governments of the Member States and to the Organization of the BSEC.
The Assembly elected Mr. Vassilios GERANIDIS as the PABSEC Vice-President on Financial Matters, to complete the two-year term of office of Mr. E. Kallioras, until June 2011.
The participants reviewed the results of the 21st Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Member States held within the framework of the Azerbaijan BSEC Chairmanship-in Office (April 2009 – October 2009) in Baku on 22 October 2009.
The working bodies of the Assembly - the Bureau and the Standing Committee - met to discuss mostly organizational matters, in particular to review the PABSEC activities in the second half of 2009.
Within the framework of the 34th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation organised a trip to the Russian gas fields in Novy Urengoy on 25 November.
At the end of the Moscow Session, the PABSEC rotating Presidency was taken over for the next six months by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. The next General Assembly is to be held in Belgrade in the first half of 2010.
