The Energy Community event calendar 2011 is a mixture of regular institutional meetings and of accompanying workshops in line with the aims and objectives set out by the Energy Community Work Programme 2010-2011. The calendar and all the event details are now available on-line.

In spring 2010 the Energy Community Secretariat contracted the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar (EIHP) to assess the current status of energy statistics and to identify required measures and resources needed to streamline the efforts to harmonize energy statistics with the rules and procedures applicable for energy statistics in OECD and EU countries. The final report puts for the first time energy statistics systems of all Contracting Parties and most Observers under one cover. The report is now available on line.

This morning, the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine adopted the Law on Ratification of the Protocol on Ukraine's accession to the Treaty establishing the Energy Community (№ 0198). Of 426 votes by the deputies, 371 lawmakers voted in favour of the ratification. Solely one member of the parliament was against the motion, whilst 54 abstained from voting. Thus, the voting resulted in an overwhelming majority in favour of Ukraine’s accession to the Energy Community.

For the sake of best possible overview, the Secretariat has taken the effort to compile the prevailing Energy Community legal framework under one cover. The first edition was presented at the 5th Ministerial Council in Dec 2008. The second edition additionally displays the new acquis communautaire on energy efficiency. It also consists of selected secondary legislation enacted by the Ministerial Council from 2009 to 2010. The publication is now available on-line.

Yesterday, immediately after the CD Briefing, bilateral talks with the representatives of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia took place. Led by Mr. Fatmir Besimi, Minister of Economy, the delegation consisted of representatives of the Ministry, the regulator and the TSO. In line with the Day – format, the meeting was kicked off by the Minister’s statement. As a next step, intensive question and answer, session energy sector by sector, followed.

Yesterday 60 European ambassadors and diplomats, including representatives of the Austrian and Turkish ministries, took part to the “2nd Briefing on the Energy Community”. The briefing was officially opened by Mr. Fatmir Besimi, Minister of Economy of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in his function as the Energy Community Presidency in Office. Following the key note speech by Mr. Fabrizio Barbaso, Deputy Director General of DG Energy of the European Commission, Director Slavtcho Neykov outlined the most pressing issues of the latest implementation report.

Yesterday the first Montenegrin Day took place at the premises of the Energy Community Secretariat. Led by Mr. Branko Vujovic, Minister of Economy of Montenegro, the Montenegrin delegation consisted of 15 decision makers representing the Ministry, Montenegrin Electric Enterprise (EPCG) and Regulatory Agency for Energy (RAE), and the Montenegrin Transmission System Operator (CGEPS). The first Montenegrin Day is the second meeting in a series of events. Initiated by the Energy Community Secretariat, the aim of the Days is to bring decision makers of a Contracting Party around one table and to address the most pressing policy issues in light of the Treaty implementation.

On 1 December, the Energy Community Secretariat organised, jointly with the European Commission DG Enlargement, a workshop on Energy Efficiency Support Mechanisms in the Western Balkans. With an aim to define the barriers to financing energy efficiency projects, the workshop brought together the members of the Energy Efficiency Task Force and representatives of the International Financial Institutions (IFI), bilateral donors, as well as from commercial banks.

Yesterday, 20 representatives of the energy businesses followed Director Slavtcho Neykov’s invitation and attended its first meeting at the premises of the Secretariat. The aim of this initiative is to have the investors around one table and to dicuss how we could improve the investment climate in the Energy Community. As stated by the panel’s new convener, Ms. Violeta Kogalniceanu, Head of Infrastructure Unit, “we might know the laws, but we do not necessarily know the prevailing business practices”.

Last week a group of statistical experts from the Contracting Parties, Georgia and Ukraine attended a 4 - day a training course at the premises of International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris. The training is part of the Energy Community’s efforts to align the Parties’ energy balances with the Eurostat / IEA methodology.

A delegation of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s regulatory authority (ERC) led by its President Mr. Dimitar Petrov, visited today the Energy Community Secretariat. The discussions focused on the preparatory steps in relation to the regulator’s extended obligations after the entry into force of the new energy law.

On 9 November 2010, the Commission adopted its annual strategy document explaining its policy on EU enlargement. It also presented its Opinion on the readiness of Albania and Montenegro to start accession negotiations. Focusing on energy, the extracts for each candidate country and potential candidate are now available at the Secretariat’s website.

Belgrade, 9 November 2010 The 2nd Energy Community Oil Forum took place on 8 – 9 November 2010, in Belgrade Serbia and was chaired by Mr. Cristobal Burgos-Alonso, European Commission. Officially opened by Mr. Petar Skundric, Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia, the Forum brought together more than 100 participants from governments, public and private oil companies, investors and donors. The state of preparedness for potential oil supply disruptions in the Energy Community Contracting Parties and Observers and steps ahead, stood at the top of the agenda.

On a workshop, hosted jointly by the Energy Community Secretariat and the regional Cooperation Council (RCC), on 25 and 26 October 2010 in Sarajevo, the ground was prepared for implementation in the Contracting Parties of the EU legislation (Directive 2001/80EC, Directive 1999/32/EC) aimed at reducing emissions from power plants and refineries. Given the prevalence of electricity produced by old coal-fired power plants in South East Europe, the question of reducing their emissions by means of rehabilitation or decommissioning is crucial both in terms of the improvement of the air quality and the security of electricity supply.

At its 15th meeting, the ECRB released three reports on the development of the electricity prices, smart metering and billing policies in the Energy Community. The findings of the three papers are based on raw data collected via questionnaires. The Energy Community regulatory authorities from the Contracting Parties, Observers, including some Participants, completed the questionnaires.

In June 2009, the Secretariat contracted KEMA to provide an overview of natural gas pricing issues, both distribution and retail, in the EU member states and to benchmark these with the European best practice. The study, furthermore, analyses tariff levels, tariff and quality regulations and specific treatments for vulnerable customers currently applied in the gas distribution and gas supply markets in the Energy Community Contracting Parties.

On 24 September 2010, the Secretariat presented its annual implementation report covering the period of mid 2009 to mid 2010. Five years after signature of the Treaty, implementation also was the focus of both the 18th PHLG and the 8th Ministerial Council meetings.

Skopje, 24 September 2010 This morning Mr. Yuriy Boyko, Minister of Fuel and Energy Ukraine, and Mr. Fatmir Besimi, Minister of Economy of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in his function as the Energy Community Presidency in Office, signed a Protocol on the accession of Ukraine to the Energy Community. Representing the Vice- Presidency, Mr. Fabrizio Barbaso, Deputy Director General for Energy at the European Commission also took part in the ceremony.

On 21 September 2010, the Energy Community Secretariat sent an Opening Letter to Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with Article 12 of the Rules of Procedure for Dispute Settlement. In the Opening Letter, the Secretariat takes the preliminary view that Bosnia and Herzegovina failed to fulfill its obligations under the Energy Community Treaty by not adopting legislation prohibiting State aid and enforcing that prohibition.

Wednesday, 22 September 2010 , marks the commencement of a call for tenders on “Study on Biomass Consumption for Energy Purposes in the Energy Community”. The closing date for the tender is the 28th October 2010 .

On 17 September 2010, the Energy Community Secretariat sent an Opening Letter to the Republic of Serbia in accordance with Article 12 of the Rules of Procedure for Dispute Settlement. The case was initiated by a complaint from the operator of the electricity transmission system located on the territory of Kosovo, KOSTT. In the Opening Letter, the Secretariat takes the preliminary view that the Republic of Serbia failed to fulfill its obligations under the Energy Community Treaty on account of practices by the state-owned Serbian transmission system operator Elektromreža Srbije (EMS) imputable to Serbia.

Yesterday, the 5th Gas Forum met in Brdo Slovenia to discuss about the latest EU policy developments and cooperation with the EU energy policy actors. Also, the regulatory issues and implementation of Regulation 1775/2005 were at the top of agenda. The 5th Gas Forum, additionally, took stock of the infrastructure development for the Gas Ring. Whilst Croatia and Serbia provided updates about their gas projects, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bosnia Herzegovina outlined their gasification plans.

Today, the first Albanian Day took place at the Energy Community. Led by Mr. Dritan Prifti, Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy in Albania, the delegation brought together 11 decision makers representing the Ministry, ERE, KESH, OST and DSO. Initiated by Director Neykov, the Albanian Day is first of its kind. It brings all the opinion leaders of a Contracting Party around one table a with the aim to assess the implementation of the acquis as laid down in the Treaty. The Secretariat intends to host similar days for all the Contracting Parties.

Yesterday Ms. Simone Rave, from European Commission DG EuropeAid, together with her three colleagues from the Kiev based INOGATE Technical Secretariat paid a visit to the Secretariat. The aim of the meeting was to identify synergies and to define actions of common interest.

Late April the Secretariat put on-line the World Bank's final report on wholeseale market opening. The key outputs of the study are a Regional Market Design (RMD) and an action plan for implementation. Due to missing data from Italy, there now is a corrigendum to the final report.

The World Bank recently released a study that assesses the prevailing energy efficiency policy in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and UNMIK. According to the study, “if remedial policy measures were introduced, additional average energy savings of 10-15 percent of current projections could be realized.” The project team worked, among others, in close co-ordination with the Energy Efficiency Task Force of the Energy Community. The study is now available on-line.

Today H.E. Dr. Ashot Hovakimian, Armenian Ambassador in Austria, visited the Energy Community Secretariat. The meeting took place upon the request of the Armenian Embassy. On this occasion Ambassador Hovakimian handed personally a letter to Mr. Slavtcho Neykov, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, with which Armenia officially expressed its interest to apply for an Observer status to the Energy Community.

Yesterday a delegation from the Energy Community led by Mr. Fabrizio Barbaso, Deputy Director General for Energy at the European Commission was welcomed by Mr Vladimir Filat, Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova. The meeting with Mr. Filat marked a culmination of two day talks (22-23 June) with the Parliament, the Ministry of Economy, and the Moldovian regulator. This is the Energy Community first official visit following Moldova’s accession to the organization in May 2010.

2010 Today, the Energy Community Secretariat released the final report of the “Study on the Implementation of the New EU Renewable Energy Directive in the Energy Community”. The objective of the study was to assess the state of play and to analyse the preconditions for the development of renewable energy sources (RES) assuming the new EU RES Directive was to be adopted.

On 10 – 11 June 2010, the 3rd Social Forum in the context of the Energy Community took place in Skopje. The progress achieved in the implementation of the Social Action Plans stood at the centre of attention.

Thursday, 4 June, marks the commencement of a call for tenders on “Study on Emergency Oil Stocks in the Energy Community Level”. The closing date for the tender is the 5th July 2010 .

On 27-28 May 2010, the Energy Community Secretariat co-organized with the European Commission, the International Energy Agency and HANDA (the Croatian Compulsory Oil Stocks Agency) the first emergency oil stocks workshop in Zagreb. The workshop was attended by representatives from governments, oil experts, state agencies and petroleum industry of all eight Contracting Parties and two Observer Countries (Georgia and Turkey).

Today Mr. Fatmir Besimi, Minister of Economy of former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia paid a visit to the Secretariat. Ms. Elena Kolevska, the Party’s PHLG representative, accompanied the Minister. The planned line of action of Minister Besimi in his function as a Presidency in Office stood at the centre of discussions.

Before the current economic crisis hit the Europe and Central Asia in 2008, the World Bank assessed energy security as a major source of concern for the region. Energy importers were experiencing shortages leading to periodic brownouts and blackouts. An energy crisis seemed imminent. The unexpected fall in economic activity due to the financial crisis staved off the energy crunch. Based on the World Bank’s analyses, this is however solely a temporary reprieve. Its latest report takes stock of the state of play and proposes counter measures to reverse the course.

The key outputs of the study are a Regional Market Design (RMD) and an action plan for implementation. It in return prompts a start up of the SEE Day-Ahead Market for 1 January 2012. Prior to publishing the Final Report, all the seven Contracting Parties were involved in commenting the study. Pöyry Energy Consulting and Nord Pool Consulting were commissioned by the World Bank to develop a study on Wholesale Market Opening for the electricity market in South East Europe in 2008.

Today a delegation of close to 20 persons representing the Twinning project "Institutional Strengthening of the Energy Regulatory Commission" paid a visit at the Secretariat. The delegation was led by Mr Dan Rieser from Austrian regulator E-Control, which is key partner of the Twinning project. The team’s visit was part of a three day study trip in Austria.

Yesterday Mr. Petar Skundric, Minister for Mining and Energy of Serbia paid a visit to the Secretariat. The visit consisted of two parts. There first were official talks between the Minister, Director Neykov and the staff. Afterwards a briefing on the Energy Community for the accompanying Serbian journalists took place.

Today a meeting between the representatives of OST, MEPSO, the Donors Community, the European Commission and the Secretariat took place. The aim of the meeting was to assess the state of play of the planned project and to co-ordinate the next steps ahead. The PHLG recognised this project as one of the priority shorted listed electricity infrastructure projects in March 2010.

On 15 April 2010, close to 60 representatives of the Energy Community ministries, regulators and TSO took part to a workshop on the set of legislative measures adopted in September 2009 concerning the EU electricity and gas internal markets (so called “3rd Energy Internal Market Package”) at the premises of the Secretariat. The workshop was conducted by a team of five energy experts from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy (DG Energy).

To pursue the further institutional development of the Energy Community, the Secretariat herewith seeks for two qualified professionals at the positions of Head of Hydrocarbons Unit and Energy Lawyer. Qualified professionals are invited to apply via e-mail to recruitment@energy-community.org, quoting the title of the post in the subject line, no later than 14 June 2010, 5 p.m.

Following the request of AES Wind Bulgaria, a meeting between Mr. Teodor Bobochikov, General Manager and Mr. Gergana Pavlova, Business Development Coordinator, and the Secretariat took place on Friday, 19.3.2010

Vienna, 17 March 2010 This morning Mr. Valeriu Lazar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Moldova, and Mr. Fatmir Besimi, Minister of Economy of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in his function as the Energy Community Presidency in Office, signed a protocol on the accession of Republic of Moldova to the Energy Community. Mr. Fabrizio Barbaso, Deputy Director General for Energy at the European Commission also attended the ceremony for the Vice- Precidency.

The Energy Community Regulatory Board recently published two documents providing recommendations on possible cooperation of regulators with regard to cross border investments. The analysis for the gas and electricity sector were done on the basis of individual reports.

On Friday 12 March 2010 the Energy Community Secretariat launched a call for tenders for consulting service for a Study “Energy Statistics in the Energy Community: Benchmarking of Energy Statistics Systems, Assessments of Administrative Capacity and Resources and Drafting Road Map on the Energy Community Level”.

The Energy Community Regulatory Board at its 13th meeting on 10 March 2010 approved its Annual Report 2009. The report summarizes the activities of the ECRB in 2009, explaining the role of the ECRB in the overall context of the Energy Community, membership organisation.

Today, the Minister for Economy, Energy and Tourism of the Republic of Bulgaria, Traycho Traykov, and the Minister of Mining and Energy of the Republic of Serbia, Petar Škundrić, signed in the presence of Director-General of DG Energy, Philip Lowe, a joint statement paving the way for the planned gas interconnector project between Bulgaria and Serbia in Brussels, Belgium. The Joint Statement is an expression of the commitment of both governments to the Serbia-Bulgaria gas pipeline. It outlines the concrete next steps of the project and invites the assistance of the European Commission and the International Financial Institutions in preparation of the project and related studies.

On 3 March Mr. Plamen Popov, Managing Director of Statkraft South East Europe and Mr. Simen Braein and Mr. Stephane Barbeau from Statkraft AS Norway paid a visit to the Secretariat. Statkraft’s involvement in the South East Europe region and its assessment of the state of play stood at the centre of discussions. Statkraft regularly takes part to the Athens Forum meetings.

Yesterday, the second Energy Community Renewable Energy Task Force discussed the final report of the “Study on the Implementation of the New EU Renewable Energy Directive in the Energy Community”. The 2020 RES target, as proposed by the study, for increasing the proportion of energy from renewable sources in the electricity, heat and transport sectors stood at the center of attention. Also, the challenges in relation to the possible implementation of the new EU renewable directive were at the top of the agenda.

Yesterday Mr. Fatmir Besimi, Minister of Economy of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in his function as Presidency in Office together with Mr. Slavtcho Neykov, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, addressed the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Winter Session in Vienna.

Yesterday a delegation led by Mr. Mladen Zirojevic, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, visited the Energy Community Secretariat. Minister Zirojevic was accompanied by Mr. Vahid Heco, Minister of the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry and Mr. Slobodan Puhalac, Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska. Outstanding issues in the context of the obligations under the Energy Community Treaty and operational steps for improving the functioning of the energy sector in the country both on state and entity level stood at the centre of discussions.

Following Director Slavtcho Neykov’s invitation, yesterday seven Vienna based international organisations dealing with energy joined to discuss about the global energy outlook under the auspices of the 2nd Vienna Energy Club. The Club was honoured by the presence of Mr. Tim Gould from the International Energy Agency, who acted as a guest speaker.

Today marked the beginning of a two-day workshop on quality of service. The aim of the workshop is to take stock of the EU programmes in place and to access the state of play across the Contracting Parties. The workshop is part of a large scale project aiming to introduce and to improve the quality of electricity service. Initiated by the regulators, the project is an integral part of the ECRB Customer Service working group’s work programme. The Secretariat contracted the Croatian research institute, EIHP, to run the project in Sep 2009.