58th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly, 22 November 2021
The 58th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly was held online on 22 November 2021. The parliamentary delegations from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Greece, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine took part in the Session.
The opening part of the Session was addressed by Ms. Cristina-Madalina Pruna, PABSEC President, Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania, Mr. Noshrevan Lomtatidze, representative of the Georgian BSEC Chairmanship-in-Office and Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General.
In the final part of the Opening, the PABSEC Presidency was transferred from Romania to the Russian Federation. The PABSEC Russian Presidency started at the end of the 58th General Assembly. Mr. Alexander Babakov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, addressed the participants on behalf of the PABSEC Russian Presidency.
The Assembly approved the Progress Report of the Assembly and the Minutes of the Fifty-Seventh Plenary Session, also ratified the mandates of the new members of the Assembly from Armenia, Georgia, Greece, and the Republic of Moldova.
The Assembly took note of the information on the activities of the BSEC Organization, presented by Ambassador Lazar Comanescu, Secretary General of the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the information on the activities of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, presented by Mr. Dmitry Pankin, President of the Bank, the information on the activities of the International Centre for Black Sea Studies, presented by Mr. Giorgios Mitrakos, Director General of the Centre, the information on the activities of the Union of Road Transport Associations of the BSEC Member States, presented by Mr. Adrian Albu, Secretary General of the Union, and the information on the activities of the Black Sea Universities’ Network, presented by Mr. Eden Mamut, Secretary General of the Network.
The members of the Assembly elected Mr. Eldar Guliyev (Azerbaijan) and Mr. Igor Becic (Serbia) as PABSEC Vice-Presidents.
Within the framework of the Economic, Commercial and Financial Affairs Committee, the Assembly adopted the Report and the Recommendation 182/2021 “Cooperation in the field of the pharmaceutical industry in the BSEC Member States”, within the framework of the Legal and Political Affairs Committee – the Report and the Recommendation 183/2021 “Fostering Digitalization and Innovation in order to Improve the Legislative Process and Transparency of Parliamentary Activity”, and within the framework of the Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee – the Report and the Recommendation 184/2021 “Objectives and Challenges of Cooperation in the Field of Education in the Black Sea Region after the Pandemic”.
The Assembly confirmed the decision of the Standing Committee to hold the 59th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly in Russia in June 2022. It was also confirmed that the following issues will be considered within the framework of the spring meetings of the Committees:
The PABSEC Economic, Commercial and Financial Affairs Committee: “Challenges and Prospects of the cooperation in the field of agriculture in the BSEC Member States after the pandemic”;
The PABSEC Legal and Political Affairs Committee on: “The Role of Parliaments in Stimulating Foreign Investments in the BSEC Member States”;
The PABSEC Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee: “Social Impact of Refugee Crisis in the BSEC Member States”.
The General Assembly adopted the PABSEC Budget for the 2022 financial year and approved the composition of the Draft Budget and Auditing Commission (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia), which will prepare the draft budget for the 2023 financial year and the Auditing Report for the 2021 financial year.
At the end of the Plenary Session, the PABSEC Presidency passed to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.