Bulgaria to File Claims if Brussels Blocks South Stream Project

Bulgaria will seek compensation if the European Commission decides to block the South Stream gas pipeline since the country’s economy is dependent on the project's implementation, the energy ministry said last week.

Earlier on Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution, urging to call off the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline.

Bulgaria will seek compensation for any lost profits related to the termination of the project, energy minister Dragomir Stoynev was quoted as saying in a press release.

Stoynev noted that Bulgaria plans to start the construction works on the South Stream pipeline on its territory by the end of the year, as planned.

Bulgaria, together with the rest of the EU member states involved in the South Stream project, gave authorization to energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger to hold talks with Russia on the gas pipeline construction.

South Stream, spearheaded by Russia's Gazprom, aims to diversify gas routes within the European Union and to provide stable gas supplies from Russia to central and southern Europe.

The offshore section of the pipeline is to pass through the economic zones of Russia, Turkey and Bulgaria, while its onshore section is designed to pass through the territories of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria.

South Stream is planned to go live by the end of 2015 with a pipeline capacity of some 63 billion cubic meters per year.

(www.hbcbg.com, April 22, 2014)