Conference in Pskov, 19 - 20 May 2006

Pskov City Cultural Center
Ploshad Pobedy 1, Pskov

1st Day, Thursday 18 May
                            Bus transportation from Tallinn and St. Petersburg to Pskov
                            (scheduled arrival in Pskov late in the evening)

2nd Day, Friday 19 May

8.15                    Registration opens

                           Bus transportation to conference venue departures from hotel Rizhkaya
 

at 9 - 12              High-level opening session:

Northern Dimension & Good Neighbourly Relations

Chairs and opening address: Heikki Järvenpää, Director & Vice-chair of The Finnish Committee for European Security (STETE) and Dmitry Shakhov, Vice Governor of The Pskov Region
 

High-level representatives from Russia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia & Latvia:

• from Russian Federation Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Mikhail Margelov, the Council of Federation
• from Finland Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki
• from Estonia, Jaan Õunapuu, Minister for Regional Affairs
• from Sweden, Gunnar Klinga, Consul General of Sweden in St. Petersburg
• from Latvia, Arina Andreicika, Director of Programme Department, Ministry of Regional Development and Local Governments of Latvia
10.30 – 11.00 Coffee break
 
 
• from Council of the Baltic Sea States CBSS, Christer Persson, Ambassador, Swedish member of the CBSS Committee of Senior Officials, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden
• from Russian Federation Evgeni Makarov, Advicer of the Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative to the Northwest Federal District
• from Konrad Adenauer Foundation in St. Petersburg, Elisabeth Bauer, Head of the Office

Pskov presents itself

• from Administration of Pskov Region, Dmitry Shakhov, Vice Governor
• from City of Pskov, Valentin Ivanov, First Deputy of Mayor of the Pskov City Administration

at 12 - 13:30          Lunch

at 12 - 12:40          Press-conference for representatives of mass media
                              (Pskov Cultural Center, Big Hall)

at 13:30 -15           Plenary session:

Political perspectives & every day life at the borders

Chairs: STETE's Vice-chair MP Outi Ojala and Nikolay Mezhevich, Professor, St. Petersburg State University, Faculty of International Relations

Introduction to the theme:

• Challenges and perspectives of cross-border co-operation / Under-secretary of State Mart Laanemäe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
• The role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in coordination of international and cross-border co-operation / Representative of MFA of Russia in Pskov Sergey Efimenko
• Future cross-border co-operation under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument / Ministerial Councellor Pekka Järviö, Ministry of the Interior of Finland
• Incoherent EU border policies / Professor Eiki Berg, University of Tartu
• From defence to security around the Baltic Sea / Senior Reseacher Arto Nokkala, University of Tampere
• Problems and prospects of cross-border co-operation in the Northwest Russia / Chairman of the Board Slava T. Khodko, North-West Development and Investment Promotion Agency

at 15.00 – 15.20    Coffee Break

at 15.20 – 17.40    Plenary session continues
 

• Maris Kucinskis, Minister of the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Governments, Latvia
• High Politics and daily life / Senior Researcher Fellow Jakub Godzimirski, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, NUPI
• Typology of Pskov Region’s cross-border co-operation / Professor Nikolay Mezhevics, St. Petersburg State University, Faculty of International Relations

Concrete cross-border cases:

• Baltic Euroregional Network (BEN)-project / Main coordinator of BEN-project Šarunas Radvilavicius, Nordic Council of Ministers
• Euregio Karelia today / Regional development Manager Sisko Kaarto, Regional Council of North Karelia &Regional structure 2000+ -project / Architect & Project Manager Anja Röpelinen, Council of Oulu Region
• NGOs co-operation in transboundary Chudskoye Lake Region / Chair Olga Vasilenko, NGO “Lake Peipsi Project Pskov”
• Eurogio “Pskov – Livonia”, Latvian Experiences / Executive Director Juris Annuskans, Euregio “Pskov – Livonia”, Section Latvia
• Co-operation between South-East Finland and St. Petersburg: the corridor project / President and CEO Tom Hultin, Lappeenranta City Holding Company LTD

at 18.00 – 19.30      City tour in Pskov

at 19.30 – 21.30      Evening reception at Pskov Regional Administration, hosted by Consulate
                                General of Finland in St. Petersburg & Pskov Regional Administration,
                                address: Ul. Nekrasova 23
 

3rd Day, Saturday 20 May
 

at 8.30                     Bus transportation to the conference venue departures from hotel Rizhkaya

at 9.00 – 11.00        Division to the parallel working groups I, II & III
11.30 – 13.00
11.00 – 11.30          Coffee break
 
 

Working group I: Business co-operation creates stability

Chairs: Heikki Järvenpää, Director, STETE’s Vice Chair and Vadim Petroukhin, Chairman of State Committee of Pskov Region on Economic Development and Property Relations

Introduction to the theme:

Chairman of the Board Slava T. Khodko, North-West Developmet and Investment Promotion Agency, St. Petersburg

Speakers:

Inter-governmental  and inter-chamber co-operation as a factor of economic relations development / Vladimir Zubov, Head of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Pskov

How business creates cross-border understanding – practical view from a small company / Ulf Grönlund, Director, ROXOR, Sweden

Fazer Bakeries in Russia / Juha Karimaa, Vice President of International Projects, Fazer Group, Finland

The role of the Pskov Model Forest Project for sustainable forest management in cross-border co-operation / Elena Yablochkina, Coordinator of Public Relations, WWF Russia

Business education as a tool of integration and co-operation / Eduard Moppel, Rector of  the Pskov Volny Institute

Working group II: Environmental safety: Focus on Transboundary Waters

Chair: Olga Vassilenko, "Lake Peipsi Project, Pskov", Chair and Vladimir Afanasjev, Chair of State Committee on licensing and nature use of Pskov Region
 
 

Introduction to the theme:

Environmental co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region: the role of non-state actors / Director Esa Kokkonen, Baltic Institute of Finland
 
 

• CBSS Environmental co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region / Dr Gabriele Kötschau, Director, CBSS Secretariat
• Main problems connected with the development of transport network of oil and gas in the Baltic region / Ljudmila Pljush, Expert, NGO “Belluna”
• Ecological state of the Russian side of Chudskoye lake / Zoja Kyrbatova, Professor, Velikie Luki Agricultural Academy
• Ecological projects in cross-border region of Chudskoye lake / Sergey Timofeev, Project Manager, NGO Chudskoe Project
• Natalia Alexeeva, Executive director, Centre for Transboundary Cooperation, St. Petersburg

Working group III: Human Security

Chairs:     Director Boris Kuznetsov, The Center for International and Regional Policy, CIRP and Mikhail Gorny, Executive Director, Center “Strategy” in St.Petersburg
 
 

Introduction to the theme:

Northern  Dimension Partnership (NDP) in Public Health and Social Well-being/ Head of Division of Foreign Affairs Viktoras Meizis, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania

Speakers:

• Health knows no boundaries - on collaboration between Russia and Finland /

Senior Expert, International Development Collaboration Anneli Milen, National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health of Finland (STAKES)
• Concrete cross-border case: Finnish-Russian Network of Social and Health NGO's / Co-ordinator Anna Skvortsova , Finnish-Russian Network of Social and Health NGOs
• Social security as one of the forms of soft security / Mikhail Gorny, Executive Director, Center “Strategy” in St. Petersburg

at 13.00 - 14.00    Lunch break

at 14.00 - 15.00     Closing session

        Conclusions of the working groups presented by the chairs of the groups

                                  Closing words by Special Adviser Gunnar Lassinantti, Olof Palme International Centre

at 15.00 - 18.00     Excursion to the Holy-Pechory Assumption Orthodox Monastery

19.00 – 21.00        Evening reception in Restaurant “Bavaria”, address Ul. Sovjetskaya 83
 
 

4th Day, Sunday 21 May
 

at 7.00                   Departure of the bus transportation to Tallinn
                             (estimated arrival around 14 o'clock)
 

at 8.00                   Departure of the bus transportation to St. Petersburg
                             (estimated arrival around 14 o'clock)
 

The Conference is organised by

The Nordic Forum for Security Policy
(Finnish Committee for European Security - STETE Olof Palme International Centre, Sweden)

In co-operation with

NGO "Lake Peipsi Project" Pskov,
Center for International and Regional Politics (CIRP)
St. Petersburg

And supported by

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
Ministry of Environment of Finland
Ministry of Education of Finland
K. Adenauer Foundation Representative Office in St. Petersburg
Pskov Regional Administration
Institute of Inland Water Management and Waste WaterTreatment
(the RIZA, the Netherlands)
Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg
Stora Enso