Chisinau, 26 October /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Vladimir Filat participated in the opening of the 36th issue of a meeting of the Electric Energy Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on 24 October. Filat thanked the CIS delegation for the confidence given to Moldova to organize this forum for the first time ever, stressing that the meeting is extremely important for all the CIS member states, the government's press service has said.

"Presently, no state can ensure stable economic development and energy security without its own energy resources. Moldovan gas-powered energy stations produce about 25-30 per cent of the power necessary for the right bank of the Dniestre, the residents of which consume about 10-12 million KW/hour," the prime minister said.

Filat noted that diversifying power and gas sources is one of the Moldovan government's priorities since this is a solution to bolstering the country' energy security.

Connecting the national electric energy system to the European one is another goal of the government, Filat said.

"In 2008, the Council of the European Union issued a mandate to the European Commission to start negotiations with Moldova on its full-fledged membership of the European Energy Community. We think that Moldova will get this status in 2010 already," Vladimir Filat said.

On 17 November 2006, Moldova was unanimously accepted as observer country to the Energy Community South East Europe Treaty.

In 2009, Moldova held the chairmanship of the Electric Energy Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which it is to pass to Russia in 2010.