On the first day, government authorities and KPMG hosted Round Table meetings to debate the progress on the four indicators of the EIRA report: the foresight of policy, decision making processes, investment conditions, and compliance with the rule of law. The next day meetings were held with the World Bank and the delegation of the European Union to Belarus. The outcome of these discussions provides information for an EIRA monitoring report on investment risk in Belarus. 

On 30 January in Minsk, EU4Energy officials held a meeting on natural gas market reform. The meeting was attended by the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, and Beltopgaz. The focus was on the internal natural gas market of Belarus and the common gas market of the Eurasian Economic Union.

There was interest in learning from the European experience on creating a common natural gas market, market transformation in the EU-acceding countries and the elimination of cross-subsidised tariffs for natural gas. Furthermore, EU4Energy international experts will provide suggestions and relevant recommendations on how to align the natural gas legislative framework to best EU and international practices. The Draft report with recommendations will be prepared by EU4Energy for further consultations and discussions with Belarus officials.

This technical assistance activity is part of EU4Energy, an EU-supported initiative providing technical assistance to countries of the Eastern Partnership that seeks to approximate areas of their energy sectors with best practices in the European Union. In addition to Belarus, the Energy Charter Secretariat also collaborates with Armenia and Azerbaijan.