Bulgaria PM, Azerbaijan President 'to Unblock Nabucco Project'

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan's leaders are to seek a renewal of the Nabucco gas pipeline project which came to a halt a few years back, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov has announced. His comments came at a press conference following a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, who is on a visit to Sofia on Wednesday.

He told reporters that as early as "today [Wednesday] we will go with President [Ilham] Aliyev to the EU Commission to present the project for Nabucco's renewal," most media outlets quoted him as saying.

Borisov stressed that Bulgaria "was an extremely loyal EU member" and "fulfilled all requirements of the Third Energy Package". This was an apparent reference to the decision of Sofia not to unblock the construction of South Stream which was frozen at the behest of EU. This stance prompted Russia to suspend South Stream, vowing to build a pipeline to Turkey instead.

"Bulgaria cannot be merely a brake, Bulgaria cannot just serve to act the EU Commission's interests, in this case in a project which is entirely both NATO and Europe-oriented and years on we have invested money into the Nabucco project", Borisov added. The PM also stressed the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor for Bulgaria, a project with which Azerbaijan's President gave "an opportunity" to Sofia also allowing its gas operator Bulgargaz to buy its own stake.