The Road Map for Energy negotiated between the EU and the governments of the regions of the Caspian Sea and Black Sea (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation, in the role as observer) was signed, sealed and delivered in Kazakhstan last week. The deal – “the Baku Initiative” – defines an action plan “of mutual interest for the gradual development of regional energy markets”, with the dual aim of varying the sources of energy supplies and integrating the markets. There are four priority areas of cooperation: convergence of energy markets, reinforcement of energy supplies, support for the development of sustainable energy (efficiency and renewable sources), and the attraction of investments for the formulation of common projects in the sector. The progress of cooperation will be monitored at the Third EU Caspian Sea/Black Sea Interministerial Conference scheduled for early 2008.
