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Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

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7th December 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

Romania – better transport, less greenhouse gas

Yesterday I opened a new intermodal transport hub in the west of Bucharest, a new 6.4 million euro British investment in Romania run by the company Tibbett Logistics. This state-of-the-art terminal will allow freight trains to be off-loaded right in the centre of “Europolis”, the main industrial park in Bucharest. It’s an important development for […]

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1st December 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

Hail the Paralympians!

3 December is the International Day of People with Disability. I celebrated it a few days in advance with a reception at the Residence for Romania’s paralympic athletes who will be going to London next year. Romania is sending its biggest ever team to the Paralympic Games in London. Whereas in Beijing there were only […]

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28th November 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

The Fat Gap

Here’s one area Romania does not want to ‘catch up with the rest of the EU’ – obesity. The latest study by Eurostat shows that Romania has the lowest incidence of obesity among the 19 EU Member States surveyed, with 8% of women and 7.6% of men recorded as obese. At the other end of […]

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24th October 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

New UK investment in Romania

Earlier this month the Romanian Government ratified its agreement with British energy company Melrose, to start seismic surveys and drilling in the Black Sea exploring for oil and gas deposits. This is great news for British investment in Romania. Melrose and its partners plan to invest some 130 million US dollars in this project and […]

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19th October 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

David vs Goliath

Manchester United were in Bucharest last night for their Group C match in the UEFA Champions League. Their opponents were Otelul Galati – the surprise winners of last years’ Romanian championship, and an historic club from the steelworks in the town of Galati, close to the Danube Delta in eastern Romania. It was a great […]

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17th October 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

The renaissance of the nuclear sector

This morning I attended an international symposium here in Bucharest on nuclear energy which was looking at the challenges that energy faces for the future. These are various, they relate to security and safety issues, to financing, to technological issues and also to political issues in response to public concern about nuclear safety in the […]

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15th October 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

Un pact pentru creștere economică

Vince Cable, ministrul britanic pentru Afaceri şi Inovaţie a venit săptămâna trecută la Bucureşti cu un mesaj foarte clar – Uniunea Europeană trebuie să revină pe un parcurs de creştere economică sustenabilă pe termen lung. Şi asta înseamnă ca UE să facă ceea ce ştie mai bine – comerţ liber. Atât România cât şi Marea Britanie beneficiază […]

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5th October 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

New Oil from old Fields

Last week I was in Ţicleni in Gorj county to look at a major new British investment in Romania’s oil industry. Petrofac is one of the UK’s main suppliers of services in the oil industry, based in Aberdeen in Scotland. As of November 2010 it has taken a responsibility from Petrom for operating and developing […]

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4th October 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

A Pact for Growth

Dr. Vince Cable, the UK’s Minister for Business, Skills and Innovation, came to Bucharest last week with a very clear message – the EU has got to get back on the path to sustainable long term growth. And that means doing what the EU does best – free trade. Romania and the UK are both […]

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26th September 2011

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by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

Diplomatic Cable

The UK’s Business Secretary Vince Cable (photo) will be visiting Romania this week. This is a follow-up to President Basescu’s visit to London in June when he agreed with David Cameron to strengthen commercial ties, and to join forces in Brussels to promote EU growth. Vince Cable’s visit comes at a critical moment for the […]

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About Martin Harris

I am the Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Moscow. In my last job I was the Ambassador at the British Embassy in Bucharest. Previously I…

I am the Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy
in Moscow. In my last job I was the Ambassador at the British Embassy in
Bucharest. Previously I have served at the British Embassies in Kyiv
and Moscow as well as at the UK Delegation to the OSCE in Vienna.
I love music, especially opera, chamber and sacred music. I am
married to Linda MacLachlan. We have three daughters, Catriona, Tabitha
and Flora – and they have one dog Timur and two cats, Pushkin and Tolstoi.

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