Today, Portorose (Slovenia) has hosted the 9th Annual General Meeting of the European Business Congress (EBC) attended by over 300 representatives of 70 companies and organizations from 21 member countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The EBC Meeting is chaired by Alexey Miller, President of EBC, Chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee. Andrej Vizjak, Slovenian Economy Minister has greeted the Meeting participants on behalf of the Slovenian Prime Minister.

Among the guests are members of the Slovenian Government and National Assembly, representatives of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and EU Commission, top executives of private companies, banks and industrialists & entrepreneurs’ associations, eminent scientists, heads of international organizations.

Opening the Congress, Alexey Miller has underscored that the ongoing General Meeting is summing up the 9th year’s operating results of EBC, which represents an established international institution promoting the economic cooperation in the OSCE countries and deepening the dialogue between private business and politics.

So far, EBC has substantially diversified its activity. Along with providing a platform for experience swaps among its member countries, the Congress develops concrete practical mechanisms of interaction, studies the market development trends, performs expert analysis for potential joint projects capable of being considerably beneficial for the member countries and is engaged in the financing and implementation of social programs on a regional scale. Over the reporting period EBC has significantly extended the list of its members, primarily by means of prominent energy companies including Shell, ConocoPhillips, Total, Shlumberger, etc.

EBC also hosted the Conference: “Development of the European Energy Sector. Prospective 2020 Scenarios”

The EBC Meeting approved the membership of the Congress Presiding Committee and Board of Directors, heard reports by the heads of EBC Working Committees. Conclusions and recommendations made will be summarized and forwarded to the EU and OSCE bodies.

On June 16, four Working Committees of EBC will hold meetings to identify related businesses of the EBC-involved companies.

In the course of the 9th Annual General Meeting of EBC Alexey Miller held working meetings with Andrej Vizjak, Economy Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Jim Mulva, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of ConocoPhillips, Udo Volker, Executive Vice President of MAN Ferrostaal AG, Coordinator of the EBC Board of Directors.

Reference:

The European Business Congress (EBC) comprises 97 companies from 21 OSCE countries, including such large corporations and banks as ExxonMobil, Daimler Chrysler, Siemens, Gazprom, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Alcatel, Wintershall, E.ON Ruhrgas, Gaz de France and others. The EBC Secretariat is domiciled in Berlin (Germany). EBC’s bulletin comes out quarterly in English and Russian. EBC’s Web-site can be accessed at www.ebconline.org.

EBC’s supreme body is the General Meeting. While the 30-member Presiding Committee exercises general management, the 9-member Board of Executive Directors is responsible for tackling topical issues.

EBC deals with economic cooperation issues on the European continent and brings forward proposals on building a safe and favorable environment for business activities. EBC operates through six Working Committees for: Energy; Industry and Construction; Law, Banking and Finance; Information and Technology; Ecology and Healthcare; Business Security.

Russian natural gas has been supplied to Slovenia since 1978. In 2005 Gazprom provided the Republic with 672.7 mln cu m of gas. Natural gas import and distribution in Slovenia is overseen by Geoplin d.o.o. Ljubljana. In 2005 Gazexport signed with Geoplin d.o.o. Ljubljana a new contract for gas supply to the Republic of Slovenia over 2007 to 2015.