Bulgaria awaits EC approval for Turkish Stream pipeline – PM
Bulgaria still hopes to secure Russian deliveries for its planned gas hub near Varna and is currently awaiting the European Commission’s decision on whether the country can build a direct pipeline to Russia, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said on July 19, at the annual meeting with Bulgarian ambassadors abroad.
Borissov – who suggested the Balkan gas hub in December 2014, just weeks after Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the cancellation of the South Stream pipeline, which was meant to make landfall in Bulgaria – recently met with Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, director for the internal energy market in the EC’s directorate-general for energy, to discuss the future of the proposed hub.
At the meeting with the ambassadors, he said that Bulgaria is currently awaiting the EC’s reply on whether it would allow a direct pipeline from Russia to make landfall in Bulgaria.
The idea is not new, as such a pipeline would effectively replicate the underwater stretch of the abandoned South Stream gas project, but Bulgaria appears to be making efforts to give a new impetus to the project in recent weeks.
To continue reading, please click here.
/Panorama
