Both energy-producing and energy-consuming countries have the same interest – to assure that the energy supply chain is not broken, and to maximize the efficiency of the flow of energy from producer to consumer. In Europe as elsewhere in the world, countries are striving to find a stable balance of their energy sources, including oil, gas, coal, nuclear energy and renewable energy sources.

There are the following conclusions from the Forum, which I would like to mention as participant of this event.

First, provision of the optimum energy mix for the Baltic States.

As it was mentioned several times by politicians and keynote speakers of the Forum, in year 2009 the Baltic States could face a problem of energy shortage because of closing down the Ingalina Nuclear Power Plant. There are two strategies to address the problem: a long term and a short term. The long term solution is construction of a new nuclear power plant, which is expected to start operation in 2015. It is very pleasant to note that the prime ministers of three Baltic States have agreed to address the government of Poland to invite this EU country to join the Baltic nuclear energy project. The short term solution is to address the shortage of energy supply during 2010-2015. As regards Latvia, the work group chaired by the Minister of Economics has elaborated proposals of provision of energy base loads in Latvia during the next 10 years. The proposal is to build a new power plant in Latvia run by coal with biomass.

Second, diversification of routes of the energy supply.

For all Baltic states one of objectives of the energy policy is to ensure the security of energy supply. In this regard it is important to integrate the Baltic energy market in the EU network thus reducing dependency of energy and raw material supplies from Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union.

It is very pleasant to mention that the Estlink project linking a power cable between Tallinn and Helsinki is completed, and is the first such project to interconnect the electric grid between the Northern and Eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. I am sure that similar projects have to be encouraged, for example a proposed GotLink project, connecting Sweden and Latvia and SwedLit project, connecting electric grid between Sweden and Lithuania and.

In the area of natural gas supply, there is one big energy supplier in the region – Russia – and many consuming European countries. We are all aware of the North European Gas Pipeline (“NordStream”) project placing a new pipeline along the basin of the Baltic Sea.  However, given the consideration of system security and supply and price stability, such a project would stand a lot to gain from increasing the connections to more countries en route, regardless of the actual path of the pipeline.  In case of Latvia, the increased security in the diversification of the supply route would benefit from the geological formations found in our country. These geological formations have been identified with total storage capacity of up to 50 to 70 billion m3. Thus, any new gas pipeline system between Russia and Europe would benefit by having a connection to the Baltic countries, where the naturally occurring underground storage capacities in Latvia could help to safeguard a steady supply of gas to Europe.

Third, continuous introduction of energy efficiency activities.

As I mentioned before, the Baltic States and especially Latvia will face a challenge until 2015 how to meet requirements of needed base loads for energy. In this context it is of great importance to foster introduction of renewable energy and further promote energy efficiency.

The Commissioner for Energy of the European Commission, Mr. Andris Piebalgs, during his keynote speech mentioned importance of development of technologies in area of energy efficiency. His statement was strongly supported by other speakers during the Forum. We must be open to innovative solutions in energy efficiency, which could substantially improve quality of our life. For example, the audience of the Forum was introduced to new concepts, which are currently known among experts of the field but, which, I believe, will become a common for every end user of energy: a passive house, zero energy building et cetera. It is amazing to see that results of applied research today allow us to use buildings, which itself can produce more energy than they consume! The Ministry of Economics has always supported energy efficiency activities both at the producer and consumer side. The Latvian government has allocated the EU structural funds to address energy efficiency issues for centralized district heating and energy efficiency for public and residential buildings. While acknowledging positive impact of the Structural Funds during previous and the current programming period, I should say that funds provided to support energy efficiency projects are not yet enough, and I as a Minister of Economics will try my best to attract more resources for this highly demanding area.

Besides, I would like to stress that solving energy challenges is not only a problem and responsibility of politicians, sectorial ministries and energy producers. It is responsibility of the whole society, especially in area of energy efficiency. Therefore, for successful implementation of energy policies in all Baltic States a dialogue with society is needed and government should take responsibility of public awareness activities to promote, explain and support energy efficiency measures in industrial, public and especially household sectors. I would like to use the opportunity and to thank Latvian mass media which in a short period of time have provided a thorough and in-depth view of issues raised during this Energy Forum.

The policy of development of national economy of Latvia is oriented towards development of Latvia as knowledge based society, which produces high value added products. I am sure that this development vision is shared by other Baltic states as we all have similar history, geopolitical situation and competitive advantages. Most of initiatives and resulting achievements are based on urgency of need and good belief to solve pending problems. I believe that the Baltic States during the next 10-15 years could become leaders of innovations in energy efficient technologies in the European Union.

In conclusion of my address, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all the Baltic Forum organizers, contributors, especially session moderators and keynote speakers for their excellent contribution.  Besides, as a chairman of the Steering Committee of this Energy Forum I highly appreciate the great support of the U.S. Embassy in Latvia, especially Her Excellency - Misses Catherine Todd Bailey and Honorable Energy Commissioner of European Union – Mister Andris Piebalgs, as well as Governments of the Baltic Countries and energy companies for support and mutual cooperation.

I am looking forward to meeting all of you in the next Baltic Regional Energy Forum.

Ladies and gentlemen - Thank you for your attention!