Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation

Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), international body of European and Asian nation states bordering, or close to, the Black Sea, participating in economic cooperation and integration, and promoting the free movement of capital and goods within its area. Until 1999 it was known as the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Pact.

The origins of BSEC came with the İstanbul Declaration of June 25, 1992, initiated by the then Turkish president, Turgut Özal, which brought together Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine to discuss enhanced economic and security cooperation. In June 1998, in Yalta, Ukraine, this grouping formally became BSEC, creating a vast potential single market of up to 400 million people in a region that contained some of the world’s greatest reserves of oil and natural gas, as well as a rich supply of other natural resources. Serbia joined BSEC in 2004, and several other countries presently enjoy observer status.

The highest decision-making body of BSEC is the Council of Ministers, which comprises the foreign ministers of the member nations and meets twice a year. The Permanent International Secretariat (PERMIS), based in İstanbul, maintains coordination among members as well as coordinating the activities of the various working groups. The Parliamentary Assembly (PABSEC), also in İstanbul, consists of parliamentarians from member countries, and serves as a consultative organ for decision making. Its three committees consider various relations: economic, commercial, technical, and environmental; legal and political; and educational, cultural, and social. The Business Council consists of various representatives from private enterprise. The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) was established in Thessaloníki, Greece, in 1999. Cooperation at academic level between member nations led to the creation of the Working Group on Cooperation in Science and Technology.