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YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS: Yerevan is ready to host the 29th session of the Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation on the highest level to be held on December 12. The Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Balayan informed Armenpress that the BSEC session will be attended by the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Bulgaria Ahmet Davutoglu and Kristian Vigenin, as well as the FM representatives of the other BSEC member states. The BSEC Secretary General Victor Tvircun as well will arrive in Yerevan.
Becoming a BSEC chairing country on June 21 in Odessa, Armenia was obliged to make additional efforts to increase the BSEC activity efficiency, as well as to contribute to the strengthening of the authority of the Organization in the international platform.
On 25 June 1992, the Heads of State and Government of twelve countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine signed in Istanbul the Summit Declaration and the Bosphorus Statement giving birth to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).
It came into existence as a unique and promising model of multilateral political and economic initiative aimed at fostering interaction and harmony among the Member States, as well as to ensure peace, stability and prosperity encouraging friendly and good-neighborly relations in the Black Sea region.
The BSEC Headquarters - the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS) - was established in March 1994 in Istanbul.
With the entry into force of its Charter on 1 May 1999, BSEC acquired international legal identity and was transformed into a full-fledged regional economic organization: ORGANIZATION OF THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION. With the accession of Serbia and Montenegro in April 2004, the Organization’s Member States increased to twelve.
BSEC covers a geography encompassing the territories of the Black Sea littoral States, the Balkans and the Caucasus with an area of nearly 20 million square kilometers. The BSEC region is located on two continents. BSEC represents a region of some 350 million people with a foreign trade capacity of over USD 300 billion annually. After the Persian Gulf region, it is the second-largest source of oil and natural gas along with its rich proven reserves of minerals and metals. It is becoming Europe's major transport and energy transfer corridor.
The 29th session of the Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation will take place in Yerevan on December 12, during which the results of the six-month chairmanship of Armenia in the Organization will be summed up. The high ranking delegations of the Organization’s member states will arrive in Yerevan to attend the session. A press conference will follow the 29th session of the Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. At the Ministerial meeting the BSEC chairmanship will pass from Armenia to Bulgaria.