Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)

General informations

· The Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC) is an international organization that promotes comprehensive cooperation between countries located in the Black Sea region. BSEC was established in 1992 at the initiative of Türkiye and acquired full organizational status following the signing of the Yalta Charter at the meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the member states held in Yalta, Ukraine, on 5 June 1998.

· Currently, the organization includes 13 member states: Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Türkiye and Ukraine.

· Strengthening long-term and cooperation in the Black Sea region, as well as ensuring peace, stability and development in the region through the promotion of Economic Cooperation in a number of relevant areas are the main goals of the BSEC.

· The BSEC Secretary General has been Lazar Comanescu (Romania) since 2021.

· Cooperation within the BSEC is carried out through the following structures:

-   Council of Foreign Ministers

-   Senior Officials Committee;

-   Secretariat

· The bodies and organizations associated with BSEC are as follows:

- Parliamentary Assembly of BSEC (PABSEC)

- Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB)

- BSEC Business Council (BSECBC)

- International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS)

Cooperation in the field of energy within the BSEC

· The main priorities of the BSEC in the field of energy are defined by the Sustainable Energy and Development of the Black Sea Energy Market section of the BSEC Economic Agenda document adopted in 2023.

· To date, seven meetings of the BSEC Energy Ministers have been held. The most recent meeting of the BSEC Energy Ministers took place on 11 April 2012 in Belgrade, Serbia.

· The BSEC Green Energy Network was established in 2015. The Network is primarily aimed at the exchange of information to support cooperation in the fields of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. The Green Energy Network is managed, under the auspices of the BSEC, by The Energy Policy and Development Centre (KEPA) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

· In order to promote regional cooperation in the energy sector, the BSEC Working Group on Energy was established in 1994.  Meetings of the Working Group are held at least once a year.

· The Republic of Azerbaijan served as the coordinating country of the BSEC Working Group on Energy during the periods 2005–2007 and 2023–2025. As of 1 July 2025, Romania is the coordinating country of the BSEC Working Group on Energy for the period 2025–2027.