Vitaly Klyuev holds a speech followed by Q and A session in London (photo)
Vitaly Klyuev, the official Russian candidate for the IMO Secretary-General post held a speech followed by Q and A session in London on 9 June 2015, three weeks ahead of the elections.
The event was organized by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in London and the Russian IMO Permanent Representative.
Vitaly Klyuev provided a comprehensive review of his maritime background, including his maritime and diplomatic education, academic and seafaring experience. He continued by introducing his achievements in the PSC field, where he may boast having managed the development of the Asia-Pacific computerized system, the model of which is nowadays also accepted for the Black Sea MOU and the Western and Central Africa PSC reporting system. Having chaired Tokyo and Black Sea MOUs Vitaly Klyuev today is responsible for every Russian delegation at IMO. The IMO current issues are therefore very much familiar to him and Mr. Klyuev proposed his vision of enhancing the efficiency of the organization.
Finalization of the reforms initiated during the past 4 years, further adjustment of the committees agendas, keeping to the current budget and staff composition, representing all the regions, are the tasks the new Secretary-General will have to complete, according to Klyuev. The new leader will however face a number of challenges that may be overcome by the introduction of a quality management system, enabling the staff to formalize their duties and responsibilities, and to improve the overall operation efficiency.
As for the development of the regulations in a way to properly implement them - there's still a room for the improvement: "Every time IMO produces something new we have to assess how much would it cost for the industry and for the maritime administrations to implement the decisions," said Klyuev.
Vitaly Klyuev suggested a roadmap for the proper implementation of IMO regulations consisting of several steps, including the collection of the data on implementation, analysis of the obstacles and bottlenecks, and encouraging active communication between the Secretariat and each of the Member State, even the smallest ones. Vitaly Klyuev also put an emphasis on a necessity of the proper targeting of the TC activity and more effective development of GISIS.
It was also confirmed that the IMO should continue its status of a member driven organization and establishment of any leading or management team especially for new strategy developments is not relevant to IMO.
Vitaly Klyuev in conclusion stressed that if he is elected every Member State will be of his personal focus and his personal care.
