Author: Shawn Lesser - Watershed Capital Group

More and more countries throughout the world are starting to rely more on renewable energy and energy efficiency as a means of sustaining the current environment for future generations. While many people do not often think of Eastern European nations in this mix, the truth is that a number of them are taking great strides in the field of clean technology. Many of these countries are much newer, having been established after the breakup of the Soviet Union and then some after, and have extremely poor sectors. The increase in renewable energy and energy efficiency marks a new era in these countries where everyone can get the necessary energy needed to run their homes.

1. Bulgaria, aside from solar energy, offers much in renewable development opportunities. Currently, there are projects for installation of over 12,000 megawatts capacity in the country. Because Bulgaria imports more than 70 percent of the required fuel, the country has been very interested in looking for renewable sources of energy. Bulgaria has a very sizable geothermal energy reserve and has over 90 percent arable, agricultural land that is perfect for the future development of biomass. As part of its National Energy Strategy, Bulgaria wants to make efficient water resource one of its primary 2020 goals.
2. Ukraine has had a system to support renewable energy sources since the 1990s. For example, in 1996, the president of the country declared that wind generation would be a national priority and created a 200 megawatt target by the year 2010. So far, Ukraine has had 40 megawatts of wind capacity installed but has a number of programs in the pipeline as more than 40 percent of the country is ripe for wind potential. Ukraine also has a number of geothermal resources and there are currently plans in motion to increase thermal water utilization to more than 250 MWth. For biomass, Ukraine offers lumber mill waste, livestock manure, as well as straw. The livestock manure has been looked into for biogas power generation.
3. Uzbekistan is full of gas and oil resources with result in the creation of low tariffs as well as lack of government incentive to develop renewable sources aside from hydropower. However, there are current plans to develop the country's power industry by building a number of hydropower and thermal power plants. Because of the weak winds throughout the country, there are no plans for any real wind installation. However, because of the climate conditions in Uzbekistan, solar energy is very favorable. The country is looking to expand on it, for example, in September of 2011, the country made the announcement that they are looking to establish a Solar Energy Institute by 2013 for research and development purposes.
4. Moldova, completely dependent upon the Russian Federation, Romania, and Ukraine for imported energy sources, has made renewable energy a very high priority for the country. Moldova created their own National Energy Regulatory Agency to aid in the renewable energy program. According to sources, there is an estimated 1,000 megawatts of potential wind energy in the western, southeast, and northeast quadrants of the country, there is also potential for development in the hydropower industry. Biogas is also a possibility. In March of 2011, Mercando Green Technology invested €25 million to construct Moldova's first biogas production plant.
5. Croatia, having just become a country in 1991, is still looking to restructure as well as liberalize and privatize its energy sector. Most of Croatia's energy supply comes from natural gas, crude oil, and hydro power. Because Croatia imports over 30 percent of its electricity, it wants to look more toward self generation. Wind and geothermal are the most promising renewable sources of energy in Croatia. In the Adriatic islands there is more than 150 megawatts of potential wind power. Orient Green, for example, started plans in September of 2011 to generate 10.5 megawatts of wind power in Croatia. Croatia also offers a favorable location for solar generation and provides a favorable feed-in tariff program.
6. Belarus modeled their own feed-in tariff for renewable electricity in 1994 after the Electricity Feed Law in Germany. However, because of limited government movement, it is difficult to gain outside financing for energy projects. This is something the government needs to work on. While Belarus does not offer much potential for wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal capabilities, they do have a lot when it comes to biomass sources, including wood. There are more than 400 boiler plants in the country that operate with wood and other fuel sources.
7. Romania has seen an increase in the demand of electricity as the economy continues to expand. Because of this, a number of projects are now underway. Biomass, wind and hydro are the most promising sources of renewable energy. Romania offers much potential in off-shore wind development, which is around 3,000 megawatts. Biomass development is also white possible as well. In May of 2011, Farmers' Ethanol, a company from the United States, was making plans to initiate a $150 million investment in bio-ethanol production in the country.
8. Poland houses a number of favorable economic and technical factors for renewable energy. The government and the people are looking to shift away from fossil fuels and develop their renewable sources of energy. By 2020, Poland wants renewable sources to count for at least 14 percent of their energy production. The most promising areas of development in the country are wind and biomass, with around 4,000 MWe for each. Solid and liquid biomasses are the primary sources of Poland's renewable energy for both thermal energy and electricity production. As well, in the beginning of October 2011, IKEA purchased two new wind farms with a combined output of 28 megawatts in southern Poland.
9. Hungary has made the commitment to have at least 2.6 percent of all electricity needs supplied by renewable sources of energy by the year 2012. The main area of renewable energy consumption in Hungary comes from biomass. There is possibility for wind development but a lack of wind measurements currently puts that on the back burner. Solar production is not very well received in Hungary because of lack of solar insulation levels mixed with the rising cost of solar photovoltaics.
10. Russia has a large possibility for wind power generation. If the country were to utilize only 25 percent of the total potential, the country could retain around 175,000 megawatts of power, which is some of the highest anywhere in the world. Hydro and biomass potential in Russia is also quite large. However, renewable energy development is hindered in Russia due to no legislative mandate, low tariffs, and lack of investment capital. Although, it is a primary location because of the magnitude of renewable energy potential the country offers.

In November 2011 will be launched CLEANTECH BULGARIA - innovative networking platform dedicated to clean technologies and sustainable development in Bulgaria.

The project aims to bring together key stakeholders from the business, industry, politics, science as well as non profit and spur the collaboration between them in the development of sustainable models and successful business practices.

Enjoy the 1 minute video presentation of Cleantech Bulgaria

Visit the conference "Cleantech Bulgaria - Marketplace, Research and Funding", which will be held on 17 November 2011, in hotel Bulgaria and become part of the Bulgarian CLEANTECH community. *Econ.bg is a media partner of the conference.

More information about the program, speakers and conditions for participation can be found on http://events.cleantech.bg

Bulgarian Industrial Association hosted a discussion concerning the introduction of a European "Blue Card" in Bulgaria. It was organized at the initiative of the European Institute in Sofia.

The meeting was opened by the Secretary of the Bulgarian Industrial Association Peter Denev. In his opening speech the Secretary General of the BIA pointed out that many companies in our country do not appreciate the seriousness of the problem required the training of its specialists. "Large countries suck the cream of our staff," said Denev, adding that this happens mostly with 15 major European countries including the U.S. and China. Denev Peter presented the draft BIA OP "Human Resources" to build a network to evaluate the competence of the workforce, and national information system for competency assessment. One of the aims of the project is to establish uniform requirements and standards for key specialties and professions in the national economy.

See the entire study here: Study

MKBUnionbank analysis showed that deposits with maturity of between three and six months are most popular in Bulgaria. The growth rate in BGN was 77 % and in Euro deposits it stood at 53 %. One and three-month deposits also proved attractive. These increased by 45% and 47%, respectively.
Deposits with maturity of between 6 months and 1 year were also preferred in recent months. The latter proves high public confidence in deposits as the most secure and liquid investment at a time of crisis.

Dynamic household behaviour was also observed on the Bulgarian deposit market, showed official statistics. People's interest in deposits with maturity of up to one-month has been falling sharply. In 2009, the amounts deposited decreased by about 25% in both BGN and in Euro, according to the analysis of the financial institution.

Over the past five years, interest in deposits in BGN rose between 46 % and 88%, depending on the maturity. Interest in deposits in Euro showed greater flexibility and variability. Their growth for the same period was between 45% and 160%.
In 2010, deposits are expected to continue to grow at a moderate pace. After recording growth of 12% in the funds attracted from citizens and households in 2009, this year’s forecasts are for a rise of no more than 10%, estimated experts from MKBUnionbank.

The Common Agricultural Policy plays a critical role in helping farmers to deliver environmental goods and services, provided that policies are targeted in the right way. This is the key message of a report published today for DG Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).

The report "Provision of public goods through agriculture in the European Union" is a first ever attempt to identify the full range of environmental public goods provided by farmers across Europe and sets out the arguments for paying for their delivery via the public purse.

The study identifies a wide range of diverse environmental and social public goods that are provided by European farmers, including valued cultural landscapes; farmland birds, such as the globally threatened Great Bustard and Imperial Eagle; and the species-rich meadows that are found across Europe. In addition, farmers manage the land for carbon storage and help to maintain high quality water and soils. The results of this study come at a time when the debate about the future of the CAP is intensifying and when the objectives and priorities of the CAP for the period after 2013 are being discussed. The study concludes that a well targeted policy, with clear objectives and sufficient budgetary resources, will be essential to ensure the delivery of public goods in line with society's expectations.

The study demonstrates that the European public places a high value on these public goods and yet the evidence suggests that they are not being provided on a sufficient scale. It finds that the CAP has a range of measures that help to support farmers in the delivery of public goods. The combination of direct payments and cross compliance supports a basic level of public goods provision across a large proportion of the EU farmed area. Rural Development measures, such as the agri-environment measure, provide the incentives for farmers to deliver a wide range of public goods in a more targeted manner.

The report concludes that many of these public goods are undersupplied. The undersupply of public goods is likely to be accentuated in the future in the face of threats such as trends in commodity prices, technological drivers and the impacts of climate change, suggesting the need for a greater degree of public intervention in the future.

Education is becoming a more and more important economic factor with deep public significance, not only a social phenomenon. Apart from being a prerequisite for social development, the high educational level of a country is closely related to its welfare for it triggers its economic potential. Technological changes lead to changes in the employment structure which brings forth the need to incorporate the educational system into the technological restructuring. This is a way to strengthen the market relation between education and business and to produce stimuli for the educational system improvement so that it could face the challenges which technological changes bring about. 

The analysis "Research on the educational and vocational qualification structure of the workforce at national, sector, and regional level" aims at defining and assessing the basic development tendencies in the educational and vocational qualification structure in the period 2004-2009 by studying their quantitative indicators at a national level, as well as in the selected sectors, economic activities and districts in the country.