OREANDA-NEWS. June 10, 2011. On June 9 a delegation of Vasterbotten county, Sweden, led by Mrs.Chris Heister, Governor of Vasterbotten, arrived in Karelia on a two-day visit. The same day Head of Karelia Andrei Nelidov has held a meeting with the guests from Sweden.

Vasterbotten County is the second lagre in Sweden. The minicipality of Umea is one of the largest in Sweden. Since long ago the region has been supporting cooperation with the Republic of Karelia. Sister-city relations between Petrozavodsk and Umea alone extend back about 35 years.

Today cooperation is built on the basis of the Protocol on Cooperation signed in 2007. Swedish-Karelian information business center operates successfully in Petrozavodsk, joint projects in the field of public health and social services are implemented, cooperation between universities develops.

During the meeting Andrei Nelidov has told Mrs.Heister about Karelia's priority spheres that could become a subject for cooperation. According to Andrei Nelidov, primary importance is assigned to development of tourism which can provide many new workplaces in regions, as well as drastic alterations in the heat power industry. "We have a challenge to reorient all black oil boiler-houses of the republic to use other kinds of fuel in 5 years. The growing cost of black oil makes heating tariffs very high, we intend to improve this situation," — Head of Karelia said.

Sweden is the conventional world leader in introduction of power efficient technologies and can render great help to Karelia in this sphere. According to Chris Heister, in Vasterbotten county they have been introducing bio-energetics for a long time. If under the agreement with the European Union by 2020 Sweden should switch to 50% use of renewed energy sources, in Vasterbotten today this parameter makes 70%. It is a question of using pellets of wood waste to receive heat and electricity.

The issue of cooperation in the field of bio-energetics is already developing in one of the joint projects of Karelia and Vasterbotten on creation of eco-efficient settlements. A special seminar to be held in Petrozavodsk on June 10 within the scope of the visit of the Swedish delegation will be devoted to it. Andrei Nelidov and Chris Heister have voiced support to further exchange of experience in this sphere.

On results of the meeting in the Government of the republic the parties have signed a joint document stating the basic directions for activity in 2011-2013 within the framework of cooperation between Karelia and Vasterbotten county. According to the protocol, Valentin Luntsevich, Deputy Head of the Republic of Karelia and Minister of Economic Development, and Ms.Birgitta Heijer, Deputy Governor of Vasterbotten, have also signed the document. There has been also signed the agreement between the Ministry of Economic Developmentof Karelia and Vasterbotten county government on continuation of the project of activity of the Swedish-Karelian information business center.