Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that energy security and sustainable energy supplies were among the most important factors of progress, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

"Energy supplies are becoming an increasingly important factor in progress," Putin told the 15th Anniversary Summit of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in the Turkish largest city of Istanbul.

The Russian president also vowed to continue making efforts for the formation of an open energy market in the region. "Our efforts to form an open energy market in the region will continue," he said.

Putin added that Russia was determined to continue carrying out projects jointly with other countries in the region that would have positive effects on the lives of the inhabitants of the region.

"Large or small, our projects should be well calculated economy wise and should be supported with sufficient finances. Otherwise, it will be nothing but cheap talk," he underlined.

Putin emphasized that BSEC could be more effective through the development of new services and it should make more use of its geographic position.

The BSEC is comprised of the Black Sea littoral states --Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine -- as well as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Moldova and Serbia.

The BSEC turned into a fully-fledged regional economic cooperation organization as the BSEC Charter, signed on June 5,1998, was put into force on May 1, 1999.