SOFIA REGIONAL ENERGY OFFICERS TRAINING - ADMINISTRATIVE

UNCLAS SOFIA 001312

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

FOR ENERGY OFFICERS
DEPT FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/NCE, EEB, SCA
DEPT PASS TDA FOR SCOTT GREENIP
DEPT PASS DOE FOR TYLER TILLER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG OTRA BU
SUBJECT: SOFIA REGIONAL ENERGY OFFICERS TRAINING - ADMINISTRATIVE
AND LOGISTICS INFORMATION

REF: SOFIA 1239


1. (U) This message provides administrative and logistical
information for the Regional Energy Officers Training Session to be
held at Embassy Sofia December 6-7, 2007. Attendees will receive a
notional schedule via email in coming days.


2. (SBU) Based on email exchanges, the following is our current
list of participants. If this does not reflect your post's/agency's
participation accurately, please contact Kelly Adams-Smith
(adamssmithke@state.gov) and Dina Abaa-Ogley
(abaa-ogleydj@state.gov). As there is a waiting list to attend this
conference, we need to know as soon as possible if any of the
following participants listed below are NOT planning to attend:

STATE DC: EUR DAS Matthew J. Bryza
Erin McConaha

J. Larry Wright
Curtis Hyatt
Alex Greenstein
Katherine Gilbert
Lane Bahl
DOE: Tyler Tiller
TDA: Scott Greenip
OTHER WASHDC: Bud Coote
Astana: John Cooney
Ankara: Rebecca Neff
Ashgabat: Heather Troutman
Athens: Clark Price
Beijing: Brian Klein
Berlin: Michael Sullivan
Baku: Alan Eyre
Belgrade: Troy Pederson
Bucharest: Blair LaBarge
Budapest: Aspen Russell
Helsinki: Jane Messenger
Istanbul: Grant McMurran
Kyiv: Patrick Slowinski
London: Mark Johnson
Moscow: Ali Jalili
Moscow/DOE: Geoff Lyon
Oslo: Edward Caneul
Riga: Les Johnson
Skopje: Michael Latham
Tallinn: Rob Hollister
Tbilisi: Robert Keene
Tirana: Robert Newsome
USEU: Richard Frost
Vienna: Dean Yap
Vilnius: Daniel Gage
Zagreb: Nicholas Berliner


3. (SBU) A block of rooms has been reserved for participants at the
Hilton Sofia, 1 Bulgaria Blvd, Sofia, +359-2-933 5028/9. When we
receive your country clearance request with your travel information,
we will customize your reservation and send you a reservation
number.



4. (U) Conference fee: To defray the cost of the conference
lunches, breaks, transport to and from the embassy, and other
conference costs, participants will be charged a conference fee of
140 USD, which will be collected in advance from your travel order
fiscal data. Please make sure your country clearance request
includes a Miscellaneous Obligation-type (MO) fund cite for the
conference fee of USD 140. Because part of this fee will cover
lunches, Sofia meals and incidentals rate for December 6 and 7
should be reduced by USD 22 each day, for a total meals reduction of
USD 44.


5. (U) Country Clearance Requests: As soon as possible, attendees
should send their country clearance requests containing flight
information and fund cite for the conference fee. In our response,
we will send your hotel reservation number and additional
information about the gathering.


6. (U) Arrivals: Attendees should change money at the airport and
take a taxi to the hotel. Embassy recommends using only OK Taxi
Company (937-2121). Taxis from this company should be waiting
outside the airport. The taxi ride to the Hilton should cost no
more than 20 leva or 15 dollars each way.


7. (U) Visas: If you decide to travel on your official or
diplomatic passport you do/do require a visa regardless of length of
stay. Tourist/tourist passports do not require a visa for visits of
less than thirty days. If you do not already have a Bulgarian visa,
it is advisable to enter/exit Bulgaria for the purposes of this
event on your tourist passport.


8. (U) All attendees should bring their official USG-issued ID for
access to Embassy Sofia.


9. (SBU) Agenda/Dress Code: The schedule for this two-day event is
full. We will begin early on December 6 and will be sending via
email departure times for transfers between the hotel and the
embassy. On the first day of the event outside experts will brief
us on energy issues focusing on pipeline structure and particular
pipeline projects. Directly after the conference on December 6 we
will hold a reception in the Embassy's atrium. Dress code for
December 6 will be business attire. On December 7 we will hold
internal, USG-only discussions and the dress code is casual.


10. (U) Sightseeing/Skiing. For those wishing to stay through the
weekend, we will include in your welcome packet information about
tours, cultural events and near-by skiing. As of November 16 there
is snow on the mountains. We will send weather updates as the
conference approaches. Please direct all questions related to this
event to Kelly Adams-Smith, with a copy to Dina Abaa-Ogley, at the
email addresses listed above. We look forward to welcoming you in
Sofia!

BEYRLE