SOFIA, July 10 (Itar-Tass) - Russia calls for cancelling visa formalities with the countries-members of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), head of the Russian delegation at the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly Mikhail Yemelyanov said.

In an interview with Itar-Tass on Wednesday, Yemelyanov said, “Tourism, i.e. the countries’ rescue operations at sea, is the key topic of the discussions. The Black Sea region is the major region from the point of view of tourism. About 10 percent of the world tourist flow account on the Black Sea region. Our citizens also show much interest in it that is why Russia seeks to cancel visa formalities with such countries as Bulgaria, Romania and Greece.”

The head of the Russian delegation said: “The BSEC Parliamentary Assembly has taken a decision to build a road around the Black Sea. The construction should be begun this year.” “Now we’re planning to approve a project to build the Black Sea electrical energy ring,” he added.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said BSEC played an important role to strengthen cooperation in the region. “It is necessary to join efforts to make the region prosperous. But this shouldn’t be done in the detriment of the environment. Bulgaria continues to back the Nabucco-West and Trans-Adriatic projects. The work continues over the South Stream gas pipeline. Bulgaria also develop its own deposits that will allow the country to diversify energy sources,” the Bulgarian president said.

Tourism is a strategic sphere for Bulgaria, he added.

For his part, Bulgarian speaker Mihail Mikov said, “It is inevitable that the organization’s role will increase in Europe. I’m sure that the BSEC work is linked with European integration processes. The development of parliamentary relations should help step up economic cooperation between our countries.”