OSCE Minsk Office organizes seminar on alternative energy sources

MINSK, 19 June 2007 - Creating legal conditions for developing renewable alternative energy sources is the focus of a seminar organized by the OSCE Office and the National Law Drafting Centre in Minsk today.

It brought together key stakeholders from the energy and economics sectors, environmental experts and regional policy-makers.

"We support the development of policies in Belarus on renewable alternative energy sources," said Ambassador Ake Peterson, the Head of the OSCE Office.

"All initiatives in this respect should be welcomed, and close consultations with academics, civil society and foreign partners are needed."

Belarus is highly dependent on imported oil and gas, and is now eager to diversify energy sources as well as to increase energy efficiency.

The OSCE Office in Minsk is developing two more projects with the Ecological International Sakharov Environmental University in Minsk. They focus on capacity-building for the education specialists and on raising awareness of students in Minsk and the Mogilev region.

Ambassador Peterson added that the OSCE Office stands ready to further assist the Government of Belarus in achieving its ambitious targets in the field on renewable energies, by bringing in foreign expertise and technologies.

The OSCE will also look into the possibility of launching larger scale projects related to energy security and alternative energies included in the portfolio of the Environment and Security initiative ENVSEC jointly managed with UN partners.

The National Law Drafting Centre was represented at today's seminar by Deputy Director Valery Doroshkevich.