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Miller: South Stream 4 Months Ahead of Schedule Thanks to Bulgaria

Business » ENERGY | November 13, 2010, Saturday // 20:07

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Bulgaria: Miller: South Stream 4 Months Ahead of Schedule Thanks to Bulgaria

Putin and Borisov in Sofia. Bulgaria's eventual agreeability over South Stream has brought the project 4 months ahead of schedule. Photo by BGNES

The South Stream gas transit pipeline might be launched four months ahead of schedule thanks to the progress achieved with Bulgaria, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller declared in Sofia Saturday.

Miller, who accompanied Russian PM Putin at the high-level talks with the Borisov government in Sofia and signed an agreement for a joint venture for the Bulgarian section of South Stream, made this statement semi-seriously.

"We are have gained a very good momentum with our Bulgarian colleagues. We even joke that if we preserve it, the pipeline could be launched not on December 31, 2015, but four months before that," Miller said.

The Gazprom head announced that the Board of Directors of the joint venture called South Stream AD, which will built and operate the South Stream section on Bulgarian soil, will include three Bulgarians and two Russians, and the Board Chair will be Bulgarian.

Gazprom and the Bulgarian Energy Holding, however, have agreed that all decisions of the Board of Directors of South Stream AD will have to be made with unanimity. This gives veto power to Russia even though its representatives in the board of the 50/50 will be outnumbered by the Bulgarians.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov also mentioned during his joint news conference with Putin that with Saturday's agreement for the South Stream AD joint venture, Bulgaria and Russia are several months ahead.

Borisov said that the Bulgarian government spoke with EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger on Friday in order to coordinate its participation in the South Stream project with the EU.

"This is an European project, as Prime Minister Putin said. Thanks to today's agreement the Bulgarian governments in the next 5-6 terms will be receiving BGN 2 B in their budgets. We are creating opportunities for the future generations with this project. Bulgaria is also working on the Nabucco project so that it can indeed turn into an energy hub," the Bulgarian PM stated.

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