EBU Members from Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Turkey have re-launched the "Black Sea Public Service Broadcasting Cooperation" group at a meeting in Ukraine.

Meeting in Kyiv on 20-21 September at the invitation of NTU, Ukraine's public TV broadcaster, the group discussed direct cooperation between the broadcasters on co-productions, radio bridges, archives and a news exchange.

The meeting was held at the initiative of Vassilis Costopoulos, Legal Director of ERT (Greece).  "United we will be in the position to face any difficulties and to overcome any problem," Mr Costopoulos said in an opening address. "… Joint actions allow for gradual achievement of goals that may have seemed at first sight too ambitious to be realized."

The group last met in Odessa, Ukraine, in 2004. It also includes the EBU's Members in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Serbia, who were unable to attend the Kyiv meeting.

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Captions for pictures below:

1. Participants at the Black Sea Public Service Broadcasting Cooperation meeting in Kyiv. Yegor Benkendorf, director general of NTU and host of the meeting, is fifth from the left.
2. Left to right:  Vassilis Costopulos, David Lewis (Head, EBU Partnership Programme), Fotini Yiannoulatou (Director of International Relations, ERT), Vassilis Alexopoulos (Director of Museum & Archives, ERT)
3. The meeting was presided by Vassilis Costopoulos, Legal Director of ERT
4. Left to right:  Alexandru Dorogan, Radio Director of TRM Moldova, in conversation with Dan Santa, Head of International Relations at Radio Romania.