IRU awards H.E. the Ambassador Leonidas T. Chrysanthopoulos, Secretary General of the Black Sea Economic the IRU Order of Merit.

Geneva - The International Road Transport Union (IRU) is pleased to announce that it has awarded the IRU Order of Merit to the Secretary General of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation (BSEC), H.E. the Ambassador Leonidas T. Chrysanthopoulos, in recognition of his personal and outstanding contribution to the development of Euro-Asian road transport links across the BSEC region, as well as for his continuous support of the IRU’s work.

H.E. the Ambassador Leonidas T. Chrysanthopoulos fully backed the Black Sea Ring Highway Caravan in 2007, a public-private partnership initiative between IRU and BSEC aimed at facilitating road transport around the Black Sea basin and to further connect national economies within the BSEC region by collecting valuable data en route with respect o non-physical barriers to road transport in the BSEC region and to road infrastructure around the Black Sea Basin.

Presenting the IRU Order of Merit, IRU President, Janusz Lacny, said, “Due to your vision, due to your understanding of the difficulties faced by the road transport industry and due to your diplomatic talents, you were able, against all odds, to persuade the Heads of State of the 12 BSEC countries to support the organisation of the Black Sea Ring Highway Truck Caravan. With the same political talent … you again managed to obtain the support of the Heads of State for the implementation of the newly created BSEC permit. Your talent to overcome the many difficulties and to obtain support in all your endeavours, also in the promotion of further facilitation for the road transport industry, must serve as an example to each of us in our tasks of representation vis-à-vis our governments.”

“BSEC could not have done anything without this unique cooperation with IRU and BSEC-URTA. We listened to each other, we consulted each other and we cared for our people”, said H.E. the Ambassador Leonidas T. Chrysanthopoulos when receiving the IRU Order of Merit.

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More on IRU’s Black Sea Ring Highway Caravan

Read the full speech by BSEC Secretary General

Press contact: Juliette Ebélé, +41 22 918 27 07, press@iru.org