KIEV, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine took over on Thursday the rotating chairmanship of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (PA BSEC), pledging to promote all-round collaboration in the region.
"Ukraine will do its utmost to use the institutional capacity of the BSEC to promote trade, medium and small-sized businesses, transport, environmental protection and other important areas of the cooperation," Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy was quoted as saying by his press service.
Strengthening security in the Black Sea region will be another key priority for Ukraine's six-month presidency, he added.
Parubiy, who formally took over the PA BSEC chairmanship from Turkish Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman, has appreciated Turkey for its fruitful work carried out during its presidency.
The BSEC has 12 member states, namely Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Serbia.
Founded in 1992, the BSEC has a total population of 335 million people and an annual intra-trade volume of 187 billion U.S. dollars.
