2006 is marked in the history of the EBC as the year of its intensive growth. Between December 2005 and December 2006, 22 new companies joined the organization, increasing its membership base to 100 companies. Among the companies that joined the EBC that year were Shell, Schlumberger, Niederlandse Gasunie N.V., Roche Diagnostics and NIIgazekonomika – these companies remained active members of the Congress until now.
The 9th Annual General Meeting of the EBC, dedicated to “Development of the European Energy Sector. Prospective 2020 Scenarios”, held on June 15, 2006 in Portoroz, Slovenia, was one of the most successful in the history of the EBC. More than 300 delegates took part in the forum, which was organized with the support of Comita d.d. and Gazprom Export.
The Slovenian Prime Minister Mr. Janez Janza gave a working breakfast in honor of the EBC President Dr. A. Miller, discussing most important issues of the European cooperation in the energy sector. The Slovenian Minister of Economy, Mr. Andrej Vizjak and the Vice Mayor of Piran and Portoroz, Mr. Drago Zjeral took part in the Presiding Committee meeting and in the Plenary session of the General Meeting. Presentations at the afternoon conference were made by the executives of the companies: Accenture and Holding Slovenske Elektrarne, Wintershall Holding AG, Gaz de France, Gazprom, E.ON Ruhrgas, Shell, and Exxon Mobil.
In 2006, the EBC and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) launched the first joint project – Energy Efficiency 21 – to help countries in Southeast and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia to improve their energy efficiency, reduce transition-related energy poverty and meet their environmental obligations set by the UNECE. Four EBC Working Committees worked together to implement this project: “Law, Banking, Finance”, “Industry and Construction”, “Ecology and Healthcare” and “Energy”. The project was successfully implemented in 2010.
As part of the Energy Efficiency 21 (EE21) project of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the European Business Congress (EBC) together with the United Nations Foundation (UNF) co-financed “Financing Energy Efficiency Investments for Climate Change Mitigation”. The EBC financed a “Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Inter-fuel Substitution in the Russian Federation” study.
The goal was to analyze current legislation on the efficient use of fuel and energy resources in the municipal sector and its impact on the formation of the investment climate. As a result a study was published analyzing “Prospects and optimal options for investing in inter-fuel substitution in the Siberian Federal District of the Russian Federation”.
