The 1st South East Europe Energy Dialogue organized by the Institute of Energy for South East Europe (IENE), commenced on Thursday in Thessaloniki with 40 speakers and around 100 participants.
The two-day event opened the chairman of IENE, Mr Costis Stambolis who referred to the Energy Community of SE Europe and the wider energy developments in the region. Mr Constantinos Maniatopoulos, chairman of the Dialogue presented the SE Europe’s geopolitical field, the political uncertainties and he stressed the need for development and stability in the region. Mr Maniatopoulos said that the energy supply security needs “stable, long-term and realistic energy policies.”
Mr Henri Donchev of the Ministry of Economy & Energy in Bulgaria underlined the importance of SE Europe’s role in the creation of a common pan-European energy policy. He also said that the region faces power deficit and the need for investments in energy is imperative.
Mr Slav Slavov of the World Energy Council presented briefly some of the Council’s researches and he stressed the role of the nuclear energy given that half of the nuclear plants will not be operational by 2020.