19-08-02 The common goal of the Baltic and Nordic countries is the creation of a joint power market by the end of this decade and its liberalization, Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen admitted after the meeting of eight Baltic and Nordic prime ministers. Baltic and Nordic cooperation in the power sector was one of the key issues discussed during the meeting.
As the Finnish prime minister pointed out, the meeting of the Baltic and Nordic prime ministers has been held at quite an important moment when the Baltic countries are near to accession to the EU. One of the most essential chapters of the EU accession negotiations has been concluded -- an agreement pertaining to the power sector.

According to Lipponen, cooperation in the power sector including safety of power supply, is one of the priorities in the Baltic Sea region. Several projects have been carried out in this aspect, for instance, in the infrastructure segment. However, the joint goal of the Baltic and Nordic countries is the creation ofa joint power market by the end of this decade and each country must contribute to the process.
As [Latvian] Prime Minister Andris Berzins stressed, European countries overall and each country individually are interested in diversification of the power market which provides for opportunity to receive energy resources from several sources.

The Latvian prime minister informed his counterparts about possibilities to participate in creating the EU power market suggesting that underground gas reservoirs could be located in Latvia. Berzins also spoke about the forthcoming conference devoted to power issues in Ventspils on 26 and 27 September.
Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik admitted that closer cooperation is possible between the Baltic and Nordic countries in the power sector. The Norwegian representative stressed the role of the environmental protection in connection with cooperation in the power sector, pointing to the Johannesburg summit on sustainable development issues. Bondevik stressed Norway's interest in increasing natural gas utilization in the region and possibilities to supply gas to the Baltic countries.

The prime ministers talked about the Baltic and Nordic countries' cooperation in the power sector to promote the formation of the "Baltic Ring" joint power market in the Baltic Sea region during their meeting.
The Nordic countries' experience in liberalization of their power markets has been successfully utilized by the Baltic countries in developing a joint Baltic power market.