International Investment Forum “Investments in renewable energy for sustainable energy development”

The International Investment Forum “Investments in renewable energy for sustainable energy development” took place in Minsk on 22 and 23 April 2014. It was organised by the State Committee on Science and Technologies of the Republic of Belarus, “RES Association”, INOGATE Technical Secretariat, the EBRD and Environmental Solutions Centre. The forum was held within “INOGATE Integrated Programme in support of the Baku Initiative and the Eastern Partnership energy objectives” and the EBRD/CEI Project “Belarus – Capacity building of the Belarusian Renewable Energy Association for active involvement in policy- and decision-making processes”.

The project manager of the BelSEFF Facility, Vassily Tarasevich, took part at the forum and made a presentation about involvement of banking sector in RES and energy efficiency investments.

The general objective of the forum was to promote domestic and foreign RES investments in Belarus. The forum provided a platform for exchange of views and experience among approximately 100 investors, project and scientific institutions, project developers and policy makers in the area of RES. A practical experience in investments in RES was presented by European investors and representatives of INOGATE Partner Countries; areas of cooperation for convergence of legislation in Belarus and other Partner Countries with that of the EU were identified; new business contacts for development and financing RES projects were established.

Within the forum, a plenary session took place, dedicated to development and role of RES in Belarus, cooperation among CIS countries in RES, and international cooperation between Partner Countries in the area of renewable energy, In addition to the plenary session, work in the following themativ sections was held: "State regulation and suuport for the renewable energy sources development in Belarus" (moderator Vladimir Kouzmitch, managing partner of the Engineering and Consulting Company "ENECA") and "Encouraging investments in renewable energy" (moderator Vladimir Nistiuk, Executive Director of the Belarusian Association for Renewable Energy).