POLOTSK, 19 January (BelTA) – Spanish experts will help Vitebsk develop a sustainable energy action plan, BelTA learnt from Deputy Chairman of the Polotsk City Hall Nikolai Ilyushenok after his working meeting with the experts. The plan will help Polotsk implement a series of energy saving projects to meet the parameters defined by Belarus’ social and economic development program through 2015. The list of projects will be drawn up as soon as the energy audit of buildings is conducted. Partaking in compiling the list will be Belarusian and Spanish specialists. In particular, the matter concerns a well-known European company Bionet. The meeting of experts was held as part of the international kick-off conference of the EU project “SURE: Sustainable Urban Energy in the Region of the European Neighborhood Partnership Instrument – towards the Covenant of Mayors” in Polotsk. The conference completes its work on 19 January. The project is a part of the EU program “CIUDAD: Cooperation in Urban Development and Dialogue” and unites six partners from five countries: Germany, Spain, Belarus, Morocco and France. The budget of the 2.5-year project is nearly ?620,000. The leading partner of the project is Freidrichshafen, the German twin-town of Polotsk. The new initiative will contribute to sustainable energy development of Polotsk and Sale (Morocco) with their further joining of the Covenant of Mayors. The Covenant of Mayors commits its member states to curb their CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020. Signatories of the Covenant of Mayors contribute to these policy objectives through a formal commitment to go beyond this target through the implementation of their Sustainable Energy Action Plan. So far the heads of 2181 European countries and EU neighbors have signed the Covenant. Polotsk will become its first participant from Belarus. Attending the conference are regional and local authorities of Belarus, Morocco, Germany and Spain, ministries and departments, a delegation of the European Commission to Belarus as well as institutions, organizations and energy experts.

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