In 2004, the EBC (now IBC) held its 7th Annual General Meeting in Varna, Republic of Bulgaria at the invitation of Overgas Inc. High-level guests such as President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Georgi Parvanov, Deputy Government Chairlady and Minister for Economics of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ms. Lyda Shouleva, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria and Commissioner of the OSCE, Dr. Solomon Passy took part in the event and welcomed the participants at the opening ceremony of the General meeting.
In his speech Dr. A. Miller, EBC President, noted that since Congress’s establishment it has been a platform for direct communication and exchange of views on issues of mutual interest of the participating companies. The EBC brings people together and contributes to the creation of a particular atmosphere of mutual trust. Mutually beneficial agreements and contracts have been concluded with the help of the EBC, while Working Committees have made proposals for implementation of the non-profit projects.
Heads of Gaz de France, Siemens AG, Berlin University of Technology, German Institute of Economic Research, Gazprom and Pipeline Industries Guild delivered reports at the conference on “Infrastructure as Basis for Sustainable Regional Development”. The discussion was focused on the energy sector development in the Baltic Sea region and the prospects for its cooperation with the EU- and CIS countries.
The participants of the 7th Annual General Meeting of the EBC elected Mr. Uwe Fip, Senior Vice President and Head of Gas Supply to the East, E.ON Ruhrgas AG, Board Member of the EBC, as Chairman of the “Energy” Working Committee. To this day Mr. Uwe Fip, Senior Executive Vice President, Uniper Global Commodities SE, successfully chairs the work of the Committee.
