SEVASTOPOL. Nov 14 (Interfax-AVN) - The Black Sea Naval Cooperation Force (Blackseafor) opened a meeting in Novorossiysk on Tuesday, the Black Sea Fleet Public Relations Service told Interfax-AVN.
The meeting is seeing participation of officials from Blackseafor member-states, including Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, and Turkey.
"The main objective of the meeting is to discuss and coordinate plans for the second stage of the sixth Blackseafor exercise, expected to be conducted in April 2007," an official of the PR service said.
In the course of the exercise, ships will make port calls in Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Russia will be represented by the Tsezar Kunikov large-displacement landing craft.
The fist stage of the sixth Blackseafor exercise was conducted in August 2006. Back then ships called in on Novorossiysk, Sevastopol, and Batumi, refining control over navigation, apprehending trespassing vessels, landing boarding inspection teams, and taking part in an S&R operation.
The meeting will last until Friday.
Under the agreement on establishing Blackseafor, signed in Istanbul on April 2, 2001, Blackseafor is tasked with conducting S&R, humanitarian, mine-clearing, and environmental protection operations.
The Blackseafor commander is appointed for a term of one year. The post is manned on rotational basis by naval officials from each country in the alphabetic order. Russia's Captain 1st Rank Mikhail Sukhval was appointed Blackseafor commander on August 5, 2006.