Lithuania in the News
14th October 2007
Vilnius in the Spotlight during Major International Energy Security Conference
Lithuania’s President Valdas Adamkus addressing the conference
The Vilnius Energy Security Conference 2007 was held October 10 -11, 2007. It was a major international conference and it brought together well over 200 delegates from more than 20 European countries and the USA, with seven presidents and 12 ministers in attendance, together with many high-level officials and energy experts. With its theme "Responsible Energy for Responsible Partners", it was a continuation of the `Cracow forum`, an energy policy meeting held in Cracow, Poland, May 11, 2007 (see SLIC News archive 17/06/07). The next meeting of the `Cracow forum` is to be held in Kiev, Ukraine, in 2008.
A major outcome of the Vilnius Energy Security Conference was the signing by the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine of an agreement to start work on an oil pipeline to link the Caspian and Black Sea regions with the Baltic Sea region and other European markets. The so-called Odessa-Brody-Plock-Gdansk project will be overseen by the newly formed ‘Sarmatia’ consortium. Work could start early next year. This and other outcomes of the conference will lead to much greater international cooperation in the energy sphere and will help reduce the dependence of the Baltic region on Russian oil and gas supplies.
President Adamkus emphasised that historically Vilnius was always "...a place for dialogue among different cultures,
Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas of Lithuania addressing
the conference
religions, and nations..." and asserted that the signing of the document by the five presidents was of historic importance. Vilnius Energy Security Conference 2007 has been a fitting continuation of a number of major international conferences hosted by Vilnius within the last decade, which have established a framework of cooperation among the nations in the region.

All photos courtesy President of Lithuania website - www.prezidentas.lt

Further information:
www.vilniusconference2007.lt/en/
www.baltictimes.com 10/10/07, 11/10/07
www.lrytas.lt 10/10/07, 11/10/07

Video recordings of the conference for October 10:
http://media3.lrs.lt/Seimas/2007/Renginiai/vk20071010.wmv
http://media4.lrs.lt/ramgen/seimas/2007/Renginiai/vk20071010.rm

Video recordings of the conference for October 11:
http://media3.lrs.lt/Seimas/2007/Renginiai/vk20071011.wmv
http://media4.lrs.lt/ramgen/seimas/2007/Renginiai/vk20071011.rm