According to a Bloomberg report; Blackstone Global Ventures, the emissions trading firm based in Prague in the Czech Republic, is seeking to raise 100 million euros ($138 million) to invest in East Europe projects that curb the release of greenhouse gases.

The fund will invest in projects, including landfill gas-combustion plants in Ukraine, to gain emission-reduction units
under the United Nations-managed joint implementation mechanism of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Stanislav Kolar, managing director of BGV, said Sept. 7 in an interview in London.

Blackstone separately has agreed to buy second-phase European Union allowances covering about 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from east Europe companies, Kolar said. That pool of allowances will be sold to raise money to buy cheaper UN credits, he said. Those credits can be used in the EU for compliance with carbon dioxide limits. ``We hope to expand it to 5 million tons.''

BGV has no relationship with Blackstone Group LP of New York, manager of the world's biggest buyout hedge fund.