Leaders of Southeast European countries pledged Friday to step up investment in the energy sector to secure more stable electric power supplies, according to reports reaching here from Skopje, Macedonia.

Branko Crvenkovski, president of Macedonia, said during a regional summit that a secure energy supply was "critical and essential" in maintaining stability in the region.

To relieve a supply shortage in the country, which is reliant on imports for 40 percent of its power, Macedonia has invited foreign companies to invest in two of its large hydropower stations, with tenders for another 70 small hydroelectric facilities in waiting.

Albanian President Alfred Moisiu said his country, which is 90 percent reliant on hydropower, suffered one of the worst power shortages this winter due to a lack of rainfall and decreased energy imports from neighboring countries.

"We will always have energy crises" if the Balkan countries fail to boost supply, he said.

Albania has signed contracts with foreign companies to build terminals for liquefied natural gas and gas-fired power stations near a seaside city in western Albania to diversify the country's electricity production.

Bosnian President Nebojsa Radmanovic said his country was to create a common market with other Balkan countries in order to attract investors.

The meeting brought to Ohrid, a Macedonian lakeside resort, six presidents, the other three being Stipe Mesic, of Croatia, Filip Vujanovic, of Montenegro, and Boris Tadic, of Serbia.

Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov, due to a busy schedule, sent his deputy Angel Marin in his place, and Romania President Trajan Basescu canceled his trip because of impeachment hearings.

The summit, with a theme of "Long-term Energy Stability-Precondition for Economic Development," was the Balkan leaders' third gathering in a year, following summits on tourism last year in Durres, Albania, and combating terrorism and organized crime last October near Belgrade in Serbia.

Source: Xinhua